Hurricane Melissa made a second landfall Wednesday in eastern Cuba near Chivirico as a Category 3 storm, a day after barreling into Jamaica as the strongest hurricane to hit there since 1851.

Hurricane Melissa, which is stronger than Hurricane Katrina, is set to bring catastrophic winds, flash flooding and high storm surges to the island of Jamaica.

A man whose wife is stranded in Jamaica because of Hurricane Melissa has said it was "so stressful" not being able to contact her. Dave Swaffer, from Portsmouth, said it was "very scary" after his wife Judith - who he first met on the Caribbean island 54 years ago - was caught up in the hurricane while she was visiting relatives.

Hurricane Melissa is already a history-making storm, landing on all-time lists for strongest Atlantic Basin hurricanes and could be the most intense Atlantic landfall on record. The strongest hurricanes in Atlantic Basin history span from the Great Depression to present day.

The two categories combined make up about 17 percent of all hurricanes in recorded history. Those reaching Category 5 — like Melissa — historically make up more like 4 percent of hurricanes. And fewer than half of the strongest two categories of hurricanes go on to hit land at such intensity.