Forecasters said the colossal amount of rain dropped on parts of Florida east and north of Orlando was comparable to what the region saw from a hurricane in 2022, underscoring the state's vulnerability to extreme weather far beyond the tropical storms that brew offshore.

The strongest Atlantic storm on record was 2005’s Hurricane Wilma, with an all-time-low pressure of 882 mb. It hit that peak at sea while it was a Category 5. But it made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 and dealt a crushing blow to a large swath of the state.

"It is more than kind of distressing because you don't know when and you don't know how," said Ewan Simpson, who lives in Jamaica.

“Melissa is expected to reach Jamaica and southeastern Cuba as an extremely dangerous major hurricane, and it will still be at hurricane strength when it moves across the southeastern Bahamas” on Wednesday, the hurricane center said in its 5 a.m. advisory.

Hurricane Melissa will make landfall Tuesday morning in Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, and organizations across South Florida are already collecting donations to help those who are being impacted.

Melissa is a deadly Category 5 hurricane and is expected to become to worst hurricane in Jamaica's history before it travels north to Cuba.

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Melissa could briefly bring a swell and rough seas to the U.S. East Coast after it passes the Bahamas later in the week, but because of the angle and speed at which it's moving off into the Atlantic, Roth said any coastal impacts should be short-lived.