Follow live updates on Hurricane Melissa as the death toll reaches 38 people. Recovery efforts are underway in Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall along Jamaica's southwestern coast Tuesday as an extremely powerful Category 5 storm.

The prime minister ordered mandatory evacuations as officials braced for tens of thousands to be displaced. Three people were killed and 13 others injured during preparations for the storm, the health minister said.

The State Department has mobilized search and rescue teams and is sending much-needed aid to Caribbean islands impacted by Hurricane Melissa.

Tens of thousands of Jamaicans were in shelters, and more than two-thirds of the island was still without power, according to officials.

The death toll in the wake of Hurricane Melissa continues to rise after the catastrophic and historic hurricane tore paths of destruction across the Caribbean, making destructive landfalls in both Jamaica and Cuba over the past few days.

The storm left widespread destruction and at least dozens of deaths in its path. In Chicago, people are looking for ways to help.

Paula Robinson, who lives in Preston, has eleven members of her family living in Jamaica, including her mum, who she last spoke to on Monday. She said her mum told her "'if I never hear your voice again, just know I love you". "I told her you are going to hear my voice again!'"