Hurricane Melissa tore a path of destruction across Jamaica.
Hurricane Melissa tore a path of destruction across Jamaica after the storm made landfall on Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane, one of the most powerful landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin.
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.
Hurricane Melissa is nearing landfall, with the eye wall expected to reach the coast of Jamaica within the next 20 minutes.
Landfall will occur around 11 a.m. or noon near Black River, on the southwestern part of the island.
Hurricane Melissa is gaining speed, now moving toward Jamaica at 7 mph.
Landfall is expected between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET; the exact time will depend on how much speed the storm gains in the next few hours.
A river has already overtaken a bridge near Spanish Town, a city just west of Kingston, with new video showing debris flowing down the river.
Houston resident Carmencita Kay Williams Wilson is among the Americans in Jamaica as the hurricane moves in.
“We've cleared out the patio and the chairs, put tape on the window as much as we can,” she said in an update on social media on Monday night. “It's just now starting to drizzle and rain on this part of the island, Pineapple Beach, St James' Parish. So we're holding on in there."
Another visitor to Jamaica, Tampa resident Kate Nguyen, said guests are sleeping on camp beds at her hotel in Montego Bay.
''I got a little sleep, but I was too anxious and worried, not just for myself but for people in the area,” she told ABC News on Tuesday morning.
Maritza Caver-Blake and her husband traveled from Arkansas to Jamaica to celebrate their 10 year anniversary and now they can’t get home to their 4-year-old and 8-year-old children.
“We’ve been praying a lot,” she said. “They were expecting their parents back on Sunday. We don’t want to tell them, ‘Mommy and daddy are stuck in another country.’”
-ABC News’ Kerem Inal
Hurricane Melissa is forecast to make landfall on Jamaica -- likely as a Category 5 storm -- close to midday or in the early afternoon of Tuesday, depending on the speed at which it churns northeast towards the island.
Hurricane-force winds, extending 30 miles from the eye, will begin in western Jamaica by around 8 a.m. ET and end by around 6 p.m. ET.
Most wind damage is expected to occur in the western portion of the island. The capital, Kingston, will not see hurricane-force winds at any point, but will rather experience tropical storm-force conditions.
The worst storm surge is also expected on the western half of the island, where 9 to 13 feet of surge will inundate the coast. Kingston will also experience storm surge, but will escape the worst.
On the northwest side of the island, likely west of where the storm's eye will pass, the Montego Bay area could see 2 to 4 feet of storm surge above ground level.
Heavy rain will affect the entire island with catastrophic flash flooding and landslides likely. Totals of 15 to 30 inches of rain are expected across the island, with some areas seeing up to 40 inches.
Southeast Cuba will feel hurricane-force wind from late on Tuesday through Wednesday morning. This will be accompanied by 7 to 11 feet of storm surge, up to 25 inches of rainfall with potentially catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides.
The southeast Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands will feel Melissa as a hurricane throughout Wednesday, with 4 to 6 feet of storm surge expected plus some 5 to 10 inches of rainfall.
Melissa will still be a hurricane passing near Bermuda on Friday morning.
The U.S. East Coast will see rough surf, rip currents and possible beach erosion this week.
-ABC News' Kenton Gewecke
