Hurricane Melissa— one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded—is now off Cuba’s eastern coast, after leaving a trail of destruction across the large island and its much smaller neighbor, Jamaica.

Founded in Santa Barbara in 1948 by Holocaust refugee William Zimdin, Direct Relief began as a small, personal effort to send supplies to war-torn Europe, Morain explained. “According to our history, his butler and his partner started sending relief packages from their pantry in Montecito.”

Hurricane Melissa is packing sustained winds of up to 175 m/h (282 km/h) as the slow-moving Category 5 storm barrels towards Jamaica, in what could be the largest on record for the Caribbean island.

Unusually warm ocean temperatures fueled one of the worst hurricanes on record. New research finds climate change increased the storm’s likelihood.