Hurricane Melissa intensified to a Category 5 storm on Monday and continued to strengthen as it moved closer to Jamaica, where it was forecast to cause life-threatening flash flooding, landslides, and devastating damage to infrastructure. It arrived on the island’s southwestern coast around noon local time Tuesday.

Lancelot Radcliffe was in tears near the Sangster International Airport, which remained closed on Thursday, east of Montego Bay, Jamaica, after Hurricane Melissa.

After lashing Jamaica with dangerous winds and flooding rain, Melissa made a second landfall in Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday morning. Melissa then moved through the Bahamas, and next, on Thursday night, the storm will pass Bermuda as a Category 1 or 2 hurricane.

An isolated island in the Caribbean, Jamaica is no stranger to hurricanes. Hurricane Melissa is currently intensifying and inching closer to the Jamaica coast with the potential to cause catastrophic consequences.

Hurricane Melissa slammed into eastern Cuba on Wednesday, leaving behind widespread flooding, power outages and heavy damage — and sparking concern among Cuban Americans in South Florida.

A demolished church, roofs blown off homes, shattered windows and debris-strewn, impassable roads: Hurricane Melissa dealt a direct hit to Jamaica's southwestern coastal communities that face a

At least 48 deaths have been reported throughout Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. "I have never seen a disaster like this in my life," says FOX Weather correspondent Robert Ray, who has covered many other natural disasters in his career.

November is the final month of hurricane season, but just because it's at the end doesn't mean hurricanes won't strike the Gulf states.

For Rob Cuff and his wife Leah, their Jamaican honeymoon is coming to an uncertain end as Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm to hit the Caribbean island in modern history, bears down. "I didn't sleep a lot last night as I kept an eye out to see if the storm was coming," Mr Cuff told the BBC from Montego Bay.