Hurricane Melissa made landfall along Jamaica's southwestern coast Tuesday as an extremely powerful Category 5 storm.

When Rebecca Morris and her family learned that Hurricane Melissa was barreling toward Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, panic set in immediately. Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica on Tuesday, Oct. 28, as a catastrophic Category 5 storm.

Hurricane Melissa is slamming eastern Cuba on Wednesday morning, Oct. 29, after hammering Jamaica on Tuesday and causing widespread damage.

Ruth Lyn Deer, 76, rode out the storm in Cobie Ridge, a settlement about seven miles from Black River, according to Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner . The woman hunkered down inside her Food for the Poor home, which was built six years ago, and watched as the storm ripped off part of her roof and led to a sinkhole opening up in her bedroom.

Hurricane Melissa has devastated parts of Jamaica and brought heavy rains and flooding to other countries in the Caribbean. Here's how to help.

Josh Wurman and Karen Kosiba, the researchers inside the mobile radar unit, noted the average wind inside the hurricane’s eyewall was between 90 and 100 mph; it ramped up to 145 mph during the passage of at least one of these whirls.

Melissa directly hit Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 storm, the most powerful hurricane ever to hit the nation.

More than 24 hours after Hurricane Melissa pummelled Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, Chris Garwood was still trying to make contact with his mother and a sibling who live in St. Elizabeth parish.