Hurricane Melissa made landfall along Jamaica's southwestern coast Tuesday as an extremely powerful Category 5 storm.

Images from a helicopter over Black River, a coastal town of 5,000 in southwestern Jamaica, show the extent of the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa.

United Cajun Navy deploys to Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa, providing relief while warning the public about fake AI-generated charity scams.

As Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica with its powerful winds and heavy rainfall, some people along the Grand Strand constantly tracked the storm and checked in with family still on the island. Christopher Anderson,

Across the sea in Haiti, Melissa killed at least 20 people, including ten children. Heavy rains caused a flash flood that swept away their makeshift homes on the banks of the Digue river in Petit-Goâve, on the southern peninsula. The main road into the town of Jacmel, on Haiti’s south coast, was also sheered off by storm surge.

The UK government has chartered flights to help British nationals leave Jamaica in the wake of Hurricane Melissa. As many as 8,000 Britons are understood to be on the Caribbean Island. The Foreign Office has urged them to register their presence to receive updates on the disaster response.

Hurricane Melissa has grown into a Category 5 storm with 175 mph winds that's become Earth's strongest hurricane winds of the year. Warm water in the Caribbean is strengthening the system.