Ahead of Hurricane Melissa making landfall, officials in Jamaica warned of the potential for catastrophic damage from the Category 5 storm.

The scale of the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa is emerging, with dozens of people known to have died in Haiti and four deaths reported in Jamaica - and the storm is now approaching the Bahamas.

Hurricane Melissa is set to hit Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, the strongest to slam the island in years.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness observed catastrophic damage in St Elizabeth Parish on October 29, wrought by Hurricane Melissa the previous day. Aerial footage posted on social media by Holness gives a sweeping view of Black River,

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.

Hurricane Melissa has left at least 34 people dead and caused widespread destruction across Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica

World’s strongest storm to make landfall in Jamaica as death toll rises to 7 - At least seven people have already been killed as the storm batters the Caribbean with heavy winds and torrential rainfal

Melissa is forecast to become the first Category 5 landfall in the Atlantic Basin since Dorian roared into the Bahamas in 2019. There have been 32 Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic since the use of satellites began in 1966, with 13 of those having formed in the past nine years.