Follow live updates on Hurricane Melissa as the death toll reaches 38 people. Recovery efforts are underway in Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

At first light on Wednesday, the coastal communities of southwestern Jamaica bore the devastation of being in the direct path of Hurricane Melissa.

Melissa’s terrifying trip through the Caribbean also piled on evidence of the influence of a warming ocean on an evolving hurricane landscape.

Melissa is forecast to move off the northern coast of Cuba on Wednesday morning as it heads towards the Bahamas. It is expected to pass through the Bahamas as a Category 2 storm in the afternoon. A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the southeastern and central Bahamas.

Hurricane Melissa brought hurricane-force gusts to Bermuda overnight and will weaken as it heads north, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Maps show its forecast path.

Rescuers and aid workers have spread across Jamaica to deliver food and water after Hurricane Melissa ravaged the island.

Hurricane Melissa may be the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the Atlantic basin. It has also ignited discussion about the need for a Category 6 designation.