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 tore a path of destruction across Jamaica on Tuesday, prompting the prime minister to declare the country a disaster area, after the storm made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane, one of the most powerful landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin.

Hurricane Melissa left dozens dead and widespread destruction across Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti, knocking out power and forcing residents from their homes. The storm approaches the Bahamas next.

More than 735,000 people were evacuated in Cuba by Tuesday night, Oct. 28, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a social media post. In the Bahamas, next in Melissa's path to the northeast, the government ordered evacuations of residents in southern portions of that archipelago.

Officials continue to assess the full extent of the devastation wrought by Melissa, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms ever to make landfall.

Officials say at least 25 people have died across Haiti. In Cuba, officials report collapsed houses and blocked roads, with 735,000 people in shelters. Jamaica faces widespread power outages and communication blackouts.

Cuba worked on Friday to rescue residents still stranded by unprecedented floodwaters in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, including a flooded river that had cut off one of the country's most important east-west thoroughfares.