Heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm Imelda caused widespread damage and disruption across the northern Caribbean on Monday.

At least two people have been killed in eastern Cuba amid the extreme weather.

Authorities in the Bahamas closed most schools and issued a tropical storm warning for parts of the northwest of the island country as Imelda brought maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour.

Imelda is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane on Tuesday morning and to move out to the open ocean, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Imelda causes landslides, flooding

Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero expressed his grief at "the death of two people" in eastern Cuba in a message on social media on Monday.  

Media reported that a 60-year-old man died in Santiago de Cuba, the island's second-largest province, when his house collapsed due to rainfall and a landslide. No information was forthcoming about the second death.

The official newspaper Granma reported that the province saw 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) of rain fall in 24 hours, causing flooding and landslides that cut off 17 communities.

The province of Guantanamo was also hit hard, with six houses reported to have collapsed as more than 18,000 people evacuated.

Both provinces have closed all educational institutions "until further notice" amid ongoing rain.

Rail access to the capital of Santiago de Cuba, which shares the same name, has been cut off after an inundation damaged the tracks in one section, Granma reported.

In the Bahamas, power outages have been reported in some areas of the northwest, while mandatory evacuation orders were issued for some islands over the weekend.

Flights to and from the Bahamas were canceled, with airports expected to reopen when weather conditions improve.

US spared the worst

Forecasters say Imelda will change its current northern course to an east-northeastern trajectory under the influence of Hurricane Humberto, a now Category 3 storm that is raging nearby over the Atlantic.

This means it will move away from the southeastern coast of the US and save the region from suffering catastrophic rainfall, though the coastlines of South Carolina and North Carolina will see increased precipitation.

Bermuda could also be affected by both storms later in the week. Authorities there have told households to prepare for possible emergencies.

Edited by: Karl Sexton