Hurricane Melissa is expected to weaken into an extratropical cyclone on Friday, Oct. 31, the National Hurricane Center said.

The BBC's Will Grant witnessed the devastation in the town of Black River, as he joined an aid helicopter flight over the island.

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.

Hurricane Melissa's sustained winds of 185-mph become one of the two strongest Atlantic storms on record to make landfall, USA TODAY reported.

Westmoreland parish is believed to have the second highest number of unconfirmed deaths, after St Elizabeth to the south east. The eye of the storm hit somewhere between the two neighbouring parishes. At St Elisabeth an estimated 90% of homes have been destroyed.

Hurricane Melissa has hit southwestern Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, causing heavy flooding and wind damage.

The U.S. Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, known as the "Hurricane Hunters," were forced to turn back at one point due to heavy turbulence after flying into the eye of Hurricane Melissa on Monday.

PM Andrew Holness warns of reports of possible fatalities still to be verified - suggesting the figure may yet rise.

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