Authorities have identified the two men who died in flooded basements in New York City on Thursday afternoon. So much rain fell in such a short period that streets became flooded, pouring into buildings and overwhelming some subway stations.

The storm will hit Bermuda on Thursday afternoon or evening, after Jamaica faced the devastation from one of the most powerful storms ever recorded.

The storm is expected to hit Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as well as Cuba, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos.

The Meteorological Service has issued a Severe Weather Alert for the island until 5pm on Thursday. In a release Monday afternoon, the Met Service warned that a strong tropical wave is now moving across the southeastern Caribbean Sea and is becoming better organised as it moves westward.