Most of the island of two million people was without internet service, and major airports were closed. Kingston, the capital, was mostly spared.

Hurricane Melissa intensified to Category 5 strength as it neared Jamaica with up to 30 inches of rain and a life-threatening storm surge.

Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica, was set to reopen to relief flights on Thursday, but not to commercial flights yet, so many tourists and Jamaicans were disappointed to have to turn back.

Melissa’s 185 mph winds rival the most intense Atlantic storms on record. The Category 5 hurricane is threatening Jamaica with a storm surge of up to 13 feet.

The director of apostolates for a Jamaica-based religious community serving the poor in Kingston said Oct. 28 that the Category-5 Hurricane Melissa seems to be sparing Kingston the worst of its wrath. But he added that the storm was not yet finished and much remained unknown about the historic hurricane’s impact in the region.

The Caribbean storm — among the most powerful in history, with 185 mph winds — is expected to bring flash-flooding and landslides as it slowly moves across the island and heads north toward Cuba.

Heavy floodwaters swept across southwestern Jamaica, winds tore roofs off buildings and boulders tumbled into roads Tuesday as Hurricane Melissa came ashore.

Hurricane Melissa barreled into Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 storm with some of the fastest winds and strongest intensities ever recorded. The storm blew through the Caribbean island’s southwestern coast,