Hurricane Melissa is slamming eastern Cuba on Wednesday morning, Oct. 29, after hammering Jamaica on Tuesday and causing widespread damage.

Hurricane Melissa became one of the most powerful hurricanes on record to make landfall in the Atlantic Basin.

As of 5 p.m. ET Tuesday, Melissa was still a powerful Category 4 storm, with winds of 145 mph. The hurricane is centered about 15 miles east of Montego Bay and about 200 miles southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba. It is moving north-northeast at 8 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

After making landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday and a second landfall in Cuba early Wednesday, Hurricane Melissa is now moving north through the Bahamas. As of 5 p.m. ET, Melissa had

Hurricane Melissa made landfall Tuesday in Jamaica as a fearsome Category 5 storm. Forecasters said it could be the island's "storm of the century."

Category 5 Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as the strongest storm — and only Category 5 hurricane — ever recorded in the nation’s history.

Hurricane Melissa is currently a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph as it's "starting to accelerate northeastward over the Bahamas," the National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Melissa is so severe that even hurricane tracking weather planes have been forced to avoid the storm.

Even before sunrise, a few loud storms are possible with heavy rain and lightning as the main threats. Storms could organize better and produce damaging wind gusts as they approach the Pamlico Sound and Outer Banks by mid morning. The storm threat will end by midday, as storms move off the coast.