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

At first light on Wednesday, the coastal communities of southwestern Jamaica bore the devastation of being in the direct path of Hurricane Melissa.

Emergency relief flights began landing at Jamaica’s main international airport, which reopened late Wednesday, as crews distributed water, food and other basic supplies.

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.

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 may be the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the Atlantic basin. It has also ignited discussion about the need for a Category 6 designation.

Travelers are finally starting to come home from Jamaica, Cuba and other islands that were impacted by the major hurricane earlier this week.