Category 5 Hurricane Melissa sped up early Tuesday making landfall in Jamaica around 1 p.m, tying the record for the strongest landfall in the Atlantic.

CBS News Miami has been in touch with families living through the aftermath, including Marvin Edwards, who rode out the hurricane in Montego Bay.

Hurricane Melissa is on track to pass through the southeastern islands of the Bahamas, which are sparsely populated compared to the islands in the north of the archipelago. The two islands that are in the storm’s direct path, Crooked Island and Long Island, have a total population of just a few thousand people.

State Department officials have asked the Pentagon to join the U.S. response to Hurricane Melissa, in a test of the Trump administration’s disaster-response capabilities after major cuts to foreign aid.

Volunteers assemble relief packages for Hurricane Melissa at the Global Empowerment Mission headquarters in Miami, Fla., on October 27, 2025. The traditional role that the United States plays in disaster relief around the world will be affected by the dismantling of USAID.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Cuba overnight after battering Jamaica as one of the most powerful landfalling storms in Atlantic basin history.

A Delaware County woman is struggling to reach her family in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa knocked out power and communication lines.