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

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 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.

The death toll from Hurricane Melissa has risen to 28 in Jamaica, the country's prime minister said in an update Saturday, days after the powerful hurricane made landfall as a Category 5 storm and tore through the island.

Melissa’s terrifying trip through the Caribbean also piled on evidence of the influence of a warming ocean on an evolving hurricane landscape.

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.

Rescuers and aid workers have spread across Jamaica to deliver food and water after Hurricane Melissa ravaged the island.