Good evening. I'm Jeff Bennett. And I'm Amna Nawaz. On the news hour tonight, Hurricane Melissa slams into Jamaica as the most powerful storm in the country's recorded history.

It is sort of unprecedented in its scale and ferocity.

If it's not concrete, it's likely to be significantly damaged.

Israel launches strikes in Gaza, it says, in retaliation for an attack on its soldiers,

once again testing the ceasefire deal with Hamas.

And critical food stamp benefits for millions of Americans become the next potential casualty of the ongoing government shutdown.

Welcome to the News Hour.

Jamaica is suffering extensive damage tonight from the devastating force of Hurricane Melissa.

Easily, the most powerful storm on Earth this year and just the second Atlantic storm ever to make landfall with winds up to 185 miles an hour. Melissa has already claimed

seven lives across the Caribbean, including three in Jamaica. And the storm is slow moving,

meaning its punishing impact will only last longer. William Brigham starts our coverage.

It's a storm, the likes of which Jamaica has never seen in its recorded history.

Melissa made landfall this afternoon across western Jamaica as a monster Category 5 hurricane,

with winds of 185 miles per hour.

That's what the system is packing as a Category 5 hurricane. And much of that will be within the eye wall.

In that eye wall, which is that area that surrounds the eye,

you will have that in most intense wind speeds,

but also the most torrential downpours of rainfall.

Forecasters and local officials warned that parts of the island could see up to 20 to

30 inches of rain. And storm surge could reach as high as 13 feet. That's enough water to wash away

homes and cause landslides across the island nation. Jamaica, this is not the time to be brave.

Melissa's whipping winds have toppled trees and downed power lines.

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