Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Jamaica Tuesday as the strongest storm to hit the Caribbean island since records were first kept 174 years ago. It is tied for the strongest Atlantic hurricane to ever hit land.

A man whose wife is stranded in Jamaica because of Hurricane Melissa has said it was "so stressful" not being able to contact her. Dave Swaffer, from Portsmouth, said it was "very scary" after his wife Judith - who he first met on the Caribbean island 54 years ago - was caught up in the hurricane while she was visiting relatives.

Maryland Del. Jheanelle Wilkins and members of the state’s Jamaican community are organizing relief efforts after Hurricane Melissa, a historic Category 5 storm, devastated the island with

Hurricane Melissa, which hit Jamaica as a Category 5 with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour, could bring up to 30 inches of rain.