Hurricane Melissa is barreling into the Caribbean island of Jamaica on Tuesday, Oct. 28, with sustained winds over 180 mph, potentially more than two feet of rain and a life-threatening storm surge.

Torrential downpours are expected from the Category 5 storm, and the island's mountainous terrain could be subject to devastating mudslides, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

Live video shows footage from the island as the storm roars ashore:

With its fierce intensification, Melissa became the strongest tropical cyclone of 2025 globally, "beating out the Western Pacific’s Typhoon Ragasa," meteorologist Jeff Masters wrote for Yale Climate Connections on Oct. 27. At least seven deaths in the Caribbean had been blamed on the dangerous hurricane as of Monday.

The National Hurricane Center reported at 11 a.m. Tuesday that the storm was centered about 40 miles southeast of Negril, Jamaica, and 235 miles southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba. It was moving north-northeast at about 9 mph.

"LAST CHANCE TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE," the hurricane center said in its 10 a.m. update.

"Total structural failure is likely" within the eyewall's winds, the center warned, especially in higher elevations where winds could be as much as 30% stronger than at the surface – well over 230 mph.

Jamaica is the third largest island in the Caribbean, and the largest English-speaking island in the region with a population of about 2.5 million people, according to the United Nations.

Contributing: Dinah Voyles Pulver, Thao Nguyen and Jeanine Santucci

(This story was updated to add new information)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watch live video as Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica

Reporting by Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect