Hurricane Melissa is set to slam into Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm early Tuesday — and barrel into the history books as the strongest to ever hit the island in recorded history.

The hurricane was upgraded to the most dangerous level of storm Monday as it bore down on the Caribbean nation’s coast, closing every one of the island’s airports and shutting parts of the capital.

It is expected to make landfall overnight, with apocalyptic conditions set to last until Wednesday, with it predicted to destroy homes, wash away roads and knock out electricity lines.

“People choosing to ride out the storm in unsafe areas, or those who are unable to move out of harm’s way, will face great peril, AccuWeather’s Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said.

“An extremely urgent humanitarian crisis may follow. The devastation from the electricity infrastructure alone may take months to repair. Food refrigeration and safe drinking water may not be available for an extended period,” the expert said.

The wicked storm has sustained winds of 160 mph, and as it slowly moves across the island, it is expected to dump up to 40 inches of rain before the worst of it passes by Wednesday afternoon.

Peak storm-surge heights could reach between 9 and 13 feet above normal tide levels, accompanied by large and destructive waves, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Warnings of catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding are in place in Jamaica, southern Haiti and the Dominican Republic through the weekend, the NHC said.

The Cayman Islands, Bahamas, and Bermuda are expected to be affected by dangerous swells later this week.

The storm’s winds are expected to drop to a still highly dangerous 120 mph by the time it reaches Cuba on Wednesday morning, then moves out into the Atlantic, experts said.

Parts of Florida could be hit with indirect impacts from the hurricane, with rip currents and hazardous sea conditions possible through to late next week.

The New York metro region is expected to be spared Melissa’s wrath.

Early Monday, Melissa was centered about 135 miles southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 320 miles southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba, the NHC said.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered in seven communities in Jamaica, while the storm has already killed three people in Haiti and a fourth in the Dominican Republic.

In the capital, Kingston, grocery store shelves had emptied as families prepared to shelter in place.

The storm is set to destroy the previous weather records in Jamaica set in 1988, when Hurricane Gilbert, a Category 4 hurricane, hit Jamaica, with sustained winds of 130 mph.

“Hurricane Gilbert made landfall in 1988 as a Category 3 storm, moving much faster than Melissa is forecast to move when the eye reaches the southern coast of Jamaica,’’ Porter said.

“Extreme impacts could last for hours in places in the path of the eyewall as the hurricane crosses the island.”