Hurricane Melissa, now a Category 5 monster, began its northwest turn Monday evening, churning toward Jamaica with what will likely be the most powerful winds ever recorded on the Caribbean island.

Hurricane Melissa is set to pummel Jamaica today with the island braced for its strongest storm in its history.

Dangerous winds, catastrophic flooding and a storm surge as high as 13 feet were expected in Jamaica as soon as Monday night, long before the hurricane’s expected landfall on Tuesday morning.