Shantelle Nova Rochester and her fiancé Denva Wray were all set for their dream wedding in Jamaica, but the arrival of Hurricane Melissa flooded their venue and trashed their plans.

Heavy floodwaters swept across southwestern Jamaica, winds tore roofs off buildings and boulders tumbled into roads Tuesday as Melissa came ashore as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.

The Jamaican government said it had done all it could to prepare as it warned of devastating damage from the strongest hurricane to hit the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago.

Speaking from the parish of St. Elizabeth, in the island's southwest, Rochester told Sky News the arrival of such a powerful storm just a year after Hurricane Beryl lashed the island was "devastating", but she said she was confident the island would make it through.

She added that she and her partner were as safe as they could be, in a sturdy building made of concrete.

Landslides, fallen trees and numerous power outages were reported as Melissa came ashore near New Hope, with officials cautioning that the cleanup and damage assessment could be slow.

The storm is expected to slice diagonally across the island and head toward Cuba, where the first intermittent rains were falling.