[Update 11:40 p.m.] A woman died in western Haiti on Wednesday when she tried to cross a flooded ravine, the Haitian news agency AHP reported. Heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy are pelting the region.

[Updated 9:07 p.m. ET] One person in Jamaica was killed when he was struck by a boulder, CNN affiliate TV J reported. The station said more than 70% of the island was without power. In Massachusetts, the state’s emergency management agency said it was monitoring the storm, which could turn into a nor’easter early next week.

[Updated 5:20 p.m. ET] Florida's east coast is under a tropical storm warning from Ocean Reef to Sebastian Inlet. The warning means tropical storm conditions are expected within the area in the next 24 to 36 hours, the National Hurricane Center said.

[Updated 3:56 p.m. ET] Hurricane Sandy made landfall in southeastern Jamaica on Wednesday, bringing 80-mph wind and torrents of rain to the island, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on its website. The storm made landfall near Kingston about 3 p.m. ET, the center said.

The forecast map shows Sandy reaching eastern Cuba by early Thursday before heading to the Bahamas. Tropical storm and hurricane warnings are up across the region.

Sandy is not expected to hit the United States, though there is a tropical storm watch for the Florida coast from the Volusia/Brevard county line to Craig Key.

Such a watch means tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area in the next 48 hours.

[Updated 11:05 a.m. ET] Sandy is now a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Track Sandy's progress with CNN's hurricane tracker.

[Updated 6:44 a.m. ET] Jamaica's international airports are closed as Tropical Storm Sandy approaches.  They will re-open at the earliest possible opportunity, airport officials say.

[Posted 5:05 a.m. ET] A strengthening Tropical Storm Sandy is closing on Jamaica, bringing blustery winds and bouts of rain to the island.

Early Wednesday, Sandy was kicking up winds of 70 mph and was about 120 miles south of Kingston, Jamaica and is expected to make landfall this afternoon.  The National Hurricane Center in Miami expects the storm to become a hurricane by Wednesday afternoon.  A storm becomes a hurricane when its winds get to 74 mph.

The forecast map shows Sandy reaching eastern Cuba by early Thursday before heading to the Bahamas.  Tropical storm and hurricane warnings are up across the region.  It's not expected to hit the United States.