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.
Black River Hospital, located on the southwestern coast of Jamaica, has sustained severe damage and service has been disrupted due to Hurricane Melissa, health officials said.
"Despite the disruption, members of the health team are working tirelessly to ensure the continued care and safety of all patients, with efforts underway to restore full functionality," the Jamaican health ministry said.
The president of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel, urged residents to move to shelters ahead of Hurricane Melissa, which is expected to make landfall in eastern Cuba overnight.
“We want to stress again how big this event is and the need for people to understand the risk it poses because of its scale," Diaz-Canel said in a statement. "Wind speeds above 260 kilometers per hour can destroy any facility that is not properly prepared. So we are once again asking everyone to use the time left before the hurricane arrives to move to safe areas to face this hurricane."
Melissa is now a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds decreased to 150 mph, but it remains an extremely dangerous storm as it sweeps across western Jamaica.
The center is currently located about 10 miles south of Montego Bay, as the storm is moving to the north-northeast at 8 mph.
Catastrophic winds, flash flooding and storm surge continue to hit parts of the island nation.
Melissa is expected to reemerge off the northern coast of Jamaica over the next couple of hours, then head toward eastern Cuba next.
-ABC News' Dan Peck
Hurricane Melissa has weakened slightly but remains an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm that’s hammering western Jamaica with 160 mph winds.
Melissa is moving to north-northeast at 8 mph bringing catastrophic winds, flash flooding and storm surge to the island.
The worst conditions will persist for a couple more hours in Jamaica before Melissa reemerges back over water and heads toward eastern Cuba.
