Melissa, which is now a Category 4 hurricane, is bringing catastrophic winds, rain and storm surge to Jamaica, where residents and tourists are sheltering in place. The president of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel, urged residents to move to shelters ahead of Hurricane Melissa, which is expected to make landfall in eastern Cuba overnight.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in western Jamaica early Tuesday afternoon as a powerful Category 5 storm and the strongest ever to directly hit the Caribbean nation of 2.8 million people.

"We're absolutely terrified," Ms Witcomb, who travelled to the Caribbean island from the UK for her mother's wedding, told the BBC.