People across the northern Caribbean were digging out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa​ on Thursday as deaths from the catastrophic storm climbed.

Storm-ravaged communities in western Jamaica were facing dire straits Sunday, days after record-setting Hurricane Melissa left towns demolished and at least 28 people dead across the island. Melissa became the most intense storm to make landfall in 90 years when it barreled into Jamaica last Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane packing winds of 185 miles (300 kilometers) per hour.

Melissa tore through the Caribbean as one of the most powerful storms in history, slamming Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane earlier this week.

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

We all heard about the catastrophic hurricane that slammed into Jamaica last week. Hurricane Melissa rewrote the record books when it made landfall Oct. 28, near New Hope in southwestern Jamaica.

Hurricane Melissa is now moving northeast from Cuba after hammering the island with powerful winds and rain. As the storm scrapes Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas with its destructive force, residents in low-lying and flood prone areas have been urged to evacuate ahead of a shelter-in-place order coming tonight.

Hurricane Melissa left dozens dead and widespread destruction across Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti on Wednesday, and it continued on to pass through the Bahamas as a weakened storm.

A rescue plane with more than two dozen Floridians who were in Jamaica landed at Tampa International Airport on Saturday – days after Hurricane Melissa struck the Caribbean island, Gov. Ron DeSantis said.