Hurricane Melissa’s powerful winds and drenching rains devastated Jamaica. But is its wrath a sign that we need a new designation for monster storms?

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

Of all the hazards that hurricanes bring, storm surge is the greatest threat to life and property along the coast. It can sweep homes off their foundations, flood riverside communities miles inland, and break up dunes and levees that normally protect coastal areas against storms.

The hurricane that tore through the Caribbean this week broke records, rapidly intensifying and surprising some meteorologists.

After Melissa moves away from Jamaica, Cuba is next in line for the powerful hurricane’s fury. Landfall is expected very early Wednesday morning, likely a couple hours after midnight, but impacts have already begun.

Hurricane Melissa followed what has unfortunately become a pattern for major storms: It formed late in the season, intensified rapidly, then stalled near the coast.

The National Hurricane Center's 8 p.m. Thursday update reported that Category 2 Hurricane Melissa is in the Atlantic Ocean, 260 miles west-southwest of Bermuda. The hurricane is moving northeast at 32 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.

Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba were assessing the damage and beginning to dig out after they were slammed by Hurricane Melissa, which left dozens dead.

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.