Melissa is among three Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall with 185 mph winds. Another storm to do so was the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935.

The hurricane weakened to a Category 3 after carving a path of destruction across Jamaica. Limited communications there have left officials with only partial reports as they seek to assess the scale of the damage.

Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a Category 5 storm early Monday, unleashing torrential rain and threatening to bring catastrophic flooding to the northern Caribbean.

Category 5 Hurricane Melissa has made landfall already in Jamaica and Cuba, as one of the strongest hurricanes to ever make landfall.

In the last 25 years, a total of 10 major hurricanes have lashed the island. “Cuba is right in the center of things,” a weather historian said.

Melissa, now an infamous hurricane, will see its name retired by the World Meteorological Organization. It’s the third strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, the strongest observed so late in a season,

Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm, arrived in Jamaica on Tuesday, October 28. How are hurricanes named? And will Hurricane Melissa hit the United States?

The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Melissa has begun affecting the southeastern Bahamas SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba — Melissa began affecting the southeastern Bahamas on Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.