Hurricane Melissa set to slam Jamaica as strongest Category 5 storm in history

Volunteers assemble relief packages at the Global Empowerment Mission headquarters in Miami, Florida, on Monday. PIC/GETTY IMAGES

Hurricane Melissa was set to pummel Jamaica on Tuesday as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, the strongest to lash the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago. The storm was expected to make landfall early on Tuesday and slice diagonally across the island, entering near St Elizabeth parish in the south and exiting around St Ann parish in the north. Hours before the storm, the government said it had done all it could to prepare as it warned of catastrophic damage.

"There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5," Prime Minister Andrew Holness said. "The question now is the speed of recovery. That's the challenge." Landslides, fallen trees and numerous power outages were reported ahead of the storm, with officials in Jamaica cautioning that the cleanup and damage assessment would be slow.

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