Hurricane Melissa, a powerful and slow-moving storm, wreaked havoc on Jamaica and Cuba as it passed over the islands Tuesday and Wednesday. In Santiago de Cuba, Reinaldo Charon was one of the few people who went outside on Wednesday morning after Hurricane Melissa tore through the eastern part of the island.

Melissa made landfall Tuesday in Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm with top winds of 185 mph, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, before moving onto Cuba. But even countries outside the direct path of the massive storm, like Haiti and the Dominican Republic, felt its devastating impact.

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

Hurricane Melissa is now moving northeast from Cuba after hammering the island with powerful winds and rain. As the storm scrapes Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas with its destructive force, residents in low-lying and flood prone areas have been urged to evacuate ahead of a shelter-in-place order coming tonight.