Historic, life-threatening flash flooding and landslides are expected in portions of Jamaica, southern Haiti and the Dominican Republic through the weekend, the NHC said. Peak storm surge heights could reach 9 to 13 feet above normal tide levels when the storm makes landfall, accompanied by large and powerfully destructive waves.

Melissa is not expected to make landfall in Florida or the U.S. The powerful storm is expected to make landfall on the island nation of Jamaica Tuesday morning. At 8 p.m., Melissa has maximum sustained winds of 175 mph and gusts of well over 200 mph. Melissa is a dangerously powerful Category 5 hurricane.

Heavy rains are forecast to fall further north along the U.S. East Coast later in the week, with a "marginal" risk of excessive rainfall, enough to cause isolated flash flooding, over the Appalachians and portions of the Ohio and Tennessee valleys on the evening of Oct. 29 and morning of Oct. 30.

Happy Wednesday, South Florida!Looking ahead to today, we’ll see a mix of sun and clouds with highs in the mid-80s. A stalled frontal boundary

Hurricane Melissa made a second landfall Wednesday in eastern Cuba near Chivirico as a Category 3 storm, a day after barreling into Jamaica as the strongest hurricane to hit there since 1851.

Joan Edghill of Ocoee worried about her 90-year-old uncle in Jamaica as the ferocious Category 5 Hurricane Melissa barreled toward the country where she was born.

Hurricane Melissa’s landfall was the strongest landfall on record in the Atlantic — tied with the 1935 Florida Keys Labor Day hurricane.

Here's how flood insurance works in Florida, where and when to find a policy, and how many types of home insurance policies there are.