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?

Record-breaking Hurricane Melissa has renewed calls to amend the scale used to classify the strength of a hurricane and estimate the potential damage it could inflict when it makes landfall. Some scientists say the over-50-year-old Saffir-Simpson scale might not adequately convey the danger of high-end storms.

Hurricane Melissa became one of the most powerful hurricanes on record to make landfall in the Atlantic Basin.

Hurricane Melissa has hit the south coast of eastern Cuba as a category 3 “extremely dangerous” storm, hours after making landfall in neighbouring Jamaica.

The National Hurricane Center's 8 a.m. Wednesday update reported that Category 2 Hurricane Melissa is 45 miles northwest of Guantanamo Cuba and 205 miles south of the Central Bahamas. The hurricane is moving to the north-northeast at 14 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.

At 1 p.m. Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center issued an advisory stating that Category 2 Hurricane Melissa is 45 miles northwest of Guantanamo Cuba and 205 miles south of the Central Bahamas. The hurricane is moving to the north-northeast at 14 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.

Hurricane Melissa pummeled areas of the Caribbean already vulnerable to landslides and flash flooding — made worse by decades of deforestation — with risks likely to continue for days, experts said