Hurricane Melissa's sustained winds of 185-mph become one of the two strongest Atlantic storms on record to make landfall, USA TODAY reported.

It’s been nearly a week since Hurricane Melissa made its first catastrophic landfall in Jamaica, and the death toll is continuing to rise.

At least 19 people have died in Jamaica as a result of Hurricane Melissa, Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon says, as search and rescue efforts continue and authorities try to get aid to hard-hit areas. The hurricane, one of the most powerful to strike the Caribbean, also killed at least 30 people in Haiti, officials say.

Insured losses from Hurricane Melissa's strike on Jamaica are expected to range between $2.2 billion and $4.2 billion, according to estimates from data analytics firm Verisk .

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Cuba overnight after battering Jamaica as one of the most powerful landfalling storms in Atlantic basin history.

Hurricane Melissa brought hurricane-force gusts to Bermuda overnight and will weaken as it heads north, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Maps show its forecast path.

Hurricane Melissa's death toll climbed to 46 people on Friday, days after the record-breaking storm barreled through the Caribbean and left behind a wake of destruction.

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.

The BBC's Will Grant witnessed the devastation in the town of Black River, as he joined an aid helicopter flight over the island.

Hurricane Melissa is expected to weaken into an extratropical cyclone on Friday, Oct. 31, the National Hurricane Center said.