Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane -- one of the most powerful hurricane landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin. Melissa is now a Category 4 hurricane as it heads toward eastern Cuba, after bringing catastrophic winds, rain and storm surge to Jamaica.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledges "immediate humanitarian aid" to Cuba as State Department responds to effects of Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean.

Rescue operations and urgent evacuations continued in Cuba on Friday, as people remained trapped by severe flooding left by the torrential rains from Hurricane Melissa on rural areas and towns across the affected provinces on the eastern end of the island.

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

Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica, Haiti, and Cuba this week as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record. A new analysis finds that warming made the cyclone four times as likely to hit today as in preindustrial times.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in southwest Jamaica this week near the coastal town of Black River, which the government has described as “ground zero.”