With Hurricane Melissa moving at speeds of 175 miles per hour and preparing to make landfall on the island nation of Jamaica by the afternoon of Oct. 28, governments are warning their citizens to put off travel, while airlines and cruise lines are calling off trips.

Jamaican health authorities on Tuesday urged residents across the island to be vigilant for crocodiles displaced by Hurricane Melissa.

Edmund Bartlett, the minister of tourism, indicated there were about 25,000 visitors in Jamaica at the time Melissa hit as a Category 5 hurricane.

The heart of Jamaican life centers around its history of resilience. Here's 7 facts about life, culture and history in Jamaica.

Hurricane Melissa is about to make landfall in Jamaica. Marlon Hill, Lead Relief Mobilizer for the south Florida organization Caribbean Strong, joins Chris Jansing to share more on how they are already preparing to send critical supplies to the country in the aftermath of the storm.

"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.