TWO people died in Cuba as Tropical Storm Imelda ripped through the northern Caribbean on Monday.

Authorities in the Bahamas were forced to close most schools as heavy rain pounded the region.

The storm was located about 140 miles north of the Great Abaco island of the Bahamas, which is still recovering from Hurricane Dorian after it slammed into parts of the Bahamas as a devastating category five hurricane in 2019.

Imelda had maximum sustained winds of 65mph and was forecast to become a hurricane on Tuesday morning and spin out to open ocean, according to the National Hurricane Centre in Miami.

Power outages were reported in some areas, with authorities closing government offices on affected islands and issuing mandatory evacuation orders for some islands over the weekend.

Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said late on Monday that two people died after Imelda impacted eastern Cuba. On his X account, Mr Marrero said the two people died in Santiago de Cuba province, but he didn’t give any details.

In Santiago de Cuba, flooding and landslides cut off 17 communities, according to the newspaper Granma. More than 24,000 people live in those communities.

In Guantanamo, another impacted province, more than 18,000 people have been evacuated, according to reports from the Caribe television channel.