Hurricane Melissa struck the western part of Jamaica the hardest, leaving widespread destruction, officials said. Black River Hospital on the southwest side of the island has been devastated and several other hospitals suffered damage, Desmond McKenzie, the minister of Local Government and Community Development, said.

Hurricane Melissa is close to making landfall on Jamaica as by far the strongest storm to hit the island since records were first kept 174 years ago.

Hurricane Melissa will bring "catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding" to Jamaica, says the National Hurricane Center.