Hurricane Melissa barreled toward eastern Cuba, where it was expected to make landfall as a major storm early Wednesday after pummeling Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.

Novette Holness, a 45-year-old nursing aide from Florida, was visiting her family near where the storm made landfall on Jamaica’s southwestern coast. She said Tuesday that she was sheltering in a home where she could hear the wind whistling. A nearby school was flooded and she could see downed trees outside.