Hurricane Melissa made landfall in eastern Cuba near the city of Chivirico early Wednesday as a Category 3 storm after pummeling Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, the U.S.

The National Hurricane Center said this morning that Hurricane Melissa made landfall on the southern coast of Cuba as an "extremely dangerous" Category 3 storm, with winds of 120 mph. The storm hit near the city of Chivirico in the Cuban province of Santiago de Cuba.

In Jamaica, 25,000 people crowded into shelters after the hurricane destroyed homes and left most of the island without power.

At first light on Wednesday, the coastal communities of southwestern Jamaica bore the devastation of being in the direct path of Hurricane Melissa.