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

At least 19 people have died in Jamaica as a result of Hurricane Melissa, Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon says, as search and rescue efforts continue and authorities try to get aid to hard-hit areas. The hurricane, one of the most powerful to strike the Caribbean, also killed at least 30 people in Haiti, officials say.

Category 5 Hurricane Melissa has wreaked havoc on Jamaica, significantly impacting the country’s airports and the potential for aid.

People across the northern Caribbean were digging out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa​ on Thursday as deaths from the catastrophic storm climbed.

Hurricane Melissa has hit southwestern Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, causing heavy flooding and wind damage.

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.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in southwest Jamaica this week near the coastal town of Black River, which the government has described as “ground zero.”

Emergency water systems and medical teams deployed to Jamaica following Category 5 Hurricane Melissa with additional Samaritan's Purse relief flights planned.

Hurricane Melissa brought hurricane-force gusts to Bermuda overnight and will weaken as it heads north, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Maps show its forecast path.