Communities across the Caribbean are reeling in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, which ripped through Jamaica, Cuba and Hispaniola, the island comprising Haiti and the Dominican Republic, this week. While officials said that damage assessments remained underway to determine the full scope of the destruction,

Sean Paul is swapping his focus to humanitarian efforts to assist in the ongoing Hurricane Melissa that's currently ravaging his homeland of Jamaica!!!

Category 5 Hurricane Melissa sped up early Tuesday making landfall in Jamaica around 1 p.m, tying the record for the strongest landfall in the Atlantic.

A tourist visiting Jamaica described the record-breaking Hurriane Melissa as "a freight train with a jet engine."

More than 24 hours after Hurricane Melissa pummelled Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, Chris Garwood was still trying to make contact with his mother and a sibling who live in St. Elizabeth parish.

CBS News Miami has been in touch with families living through the aftermath, including Marvin Edwards, who rode out the hurricane in Montego Bay.

As Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica with its powerful winds and heavy rainfall, some people along the Grand Strand constantly tracked the storm and checked in with family still on the island. Christopher Anderson,