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

Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica as a Category 5. Cuban authorities reported that about 735,000 people have been evacuated so far.

Cuba: Hurricane-force winds are occurring within the warning area, and the eastern part of the country is likely to face life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash flooding with numerous landslides. It is also warning of a dangerous storm surge.

The National Hurricane Center's 8 a.m. Wednesday update reported that Category 2 Hurricane Melissa is 45 miles northwest of Guantanamo Cuba and 205 miles south of the Central Bahamas. The hurricane is moving to the north-northeast at 14 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.

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The storm is bringing destructive winds and life-threatening and catastrophic flooding and landslides to Jamaica, forecasters say.

The National Hurricane Center is keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Melissa, which is expected to rapidly intensify into a major hurricane.

Lightning flashes in the eyewall of Category 5 Melissa are a marker of how strong the storm is. It reached a central pressure of 892 millibars, among the lowest ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. It is tied as the third-most intense Atlantic storm with the devastating 1935 Labor Day hurricane.