President DONALD TRUMP told reporters on Air Force One that the U.S. was prepared to help Jamaica “on a humanitarian basis” and that officials were “watching closely.” It may take days or weeks for the full scope of the damage and death toll to become known given widespread communication and power outages.

Hurricane Melissa has left a trail of devastation across Jamaica after making landfall on Tuesday as one of the most powerful storms ever to strike the Caribbean nation. With winds reaching 185 mph and rainfall exceeding 30 inches in some areas,

Maryland Del. Jheanelle Wilkins and members of the state’s Jamaican community are organizing relief efforts after Hurricane Melissa, a historic Category 5 storm, devastated the island with

After passing through Jamaica as a devastating Category 5 system, Hurricane Melissa continues to ravage the Caribbean as it makes landfall in Cuba. On Tuesday, Melissa was the

Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean are staring down what could become a catastrophic, days-long assault of extreme rainfall and damaging winds.

Melissa made landfall on Jamaica's southwestern coast around midday Tuesday as a Category 5 storm, with sustained winds of 185 mph, making it the strongest hurricane of the Atlantic season to date and the most powerful hurricane to ever hit the island.

"It is more than kind of distressing because you don't know when and you don't know how," said Ewan Simpson, who lives in Jamaica.

Tropical Storm Melissa lumbered through the Caribbean Sea on Thursday, bringing a risk of dangerous landslides and life-threatening flooding to Jamaica and southern Hispaniola -- an island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti.