Category 5 Hurricane Melissa sped up early Tuesday making landfall in Jamaica around 1 p.m, tying the record for the strongest landfall in the Atlantic.

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.

Officials in Cuba reported collapsed houses, blocked mountain roads and roofs blown off buildings on Wednesday after Hurricane Melissa tore through the island, Haiti and Jamaica leaving dozens dead.

CBS News Miami has been in touch with families living through the aftermath, including Marvin Edwards, who rode out the hurricane in Montego Bay.

Satellite imagery captured before and after in areas in Jamaica showcase the widespread destruction caused by the major Category 5 hurricane that packed winds of 185 mph and made landfall as the third-strongest Atlantic Basin hurricane on record.

Hurricane Melissa is on track to pass through the southeastern islands of the Bahamas, which are sparsely populated compared to the islands in the north of the archipelago. The two islands that are in the storm’s direct path, Crooked Island and Long Island, have a total population of just a few thousand people.

The storm left widespread destruction and at least dozens of deaths in its path. In Chicago, people are looking for ways to help.