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

Tropical Storm Melissa is expected to rapidly intensify over the weekend into a Category 4 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. The slow-moving storm is forecast to bring "life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides to southern Hispaniola and Jamaica through the weekend.

AccuWeather said in a post on X, Thursday: "Tropical Storm Melissa is forecast to rapidly strengthen to a major hurricane over the Caribbean and could end up being one of the strongest of the season with lives and property in peril from Jamaica to Cuba and Haiti."

Tropical Storm Melissa is expected to become a major hurricane over the weekend. The storm is currently located in the Caribbean and is not expected to directly hit Florida. Jamaica and Haiti are under hurricane and tropical storm watches and warnings.

Tropical Storm Melissa is lumbering through the Caribbean Sea and bringing a risk of dangerous landslides and life-threatening flooding to Jamaica and southern Hispaniola.

The capitals and exclamation points are warranted. Hurricane Melissa is an extraordinary storm, even among the many massive, fast-growing, devastating cyclones that have been erupting in the Atlantic Ocean in recent years.

At least five people have been killed on the island nation after the powerful category 5 storm hit earlier this week, with at least 20 left dead in Haiti.

Tropical Storm Melissa is nearly stationary in the central Caribbean, with forecasters warning it could soon strengthen and brush past Jamaica as a powerful hurricane.