South Floridians were gathering supplies and sending money on Tuesday as Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded.

Melissa, dubbed Jamaica’s “storm of the century” by the World Meteorological Organization, quickly surpassed Hurricane Gilbert, which struck the island in 1988 with winds of 130 mph. Gilbert devastated Jamaica, killing 45 people and causing an estimated $700 million in damage.

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 2 p.m., Melissa has maximum sustained winds of 165 mph with higher gusts. Melissa is a dangerously powerful Category 5 hurricane.

Melissa is expected to become a Category 5 hurricane by Sunday night, Oct. 26, and have catastrophic impacts on islands in the northern Caribbean.

Hurricane Melissa has strengthened back into a Category 2 hurricane after devastating Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas and is heading toweard Bermuda.

At 5 p.m., Melissa was located about 80 miles south of the Central Bahamas. Melissa is not expected to make landfall in Florida or the U.S. The powerful storm made landfall on Jamaica Tuesday morning and on Cuba early Wednesday morning. It's expected to move across the Bahamas later today and pass near Bermuda late Thursday.

"We’ve tried to make the best of it—we hope everyone is safe. This is so scary for all Jamaica," Adrienne Brynteson told Newsweek.

Hurricane Melissa became one of the most powerful hurricanes on record to make landfall in the Atlantic Basin.