(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane — one of the most powerful hurricane landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin.

After tearing across Jamaica on Tuesday, Melissa is now a Category 3 hurricane as it pounds Cuba on Wednesday morning.

Latest forecast: Melissa to pass Cuba, Bahamas on Wednesday As of 5 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Hurricane Melissa was a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 115 mph moving northeast across Cuba.

Melissa — the strongest hurricane on record to hit Jamaica — made landfall on Cuba early on Wednesday near the city of Chivirico in the southeastern province of Santiago de Cuba.

Melissa is forecast to move off the northern coast of Cuba on Wednesday morning as it heads towards the Bahamas. It is expected to pass through

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