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.

Jamaica is no stranger to destructive hurricanes. From Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 to Hurricane Beryl just last year, click here to read about the major storms that struck Jamaica before Melissa.