Flooding from torrential rains in Haiti has left at least 42 people dead over the past couple of days and dozens more missing and injured, officials said on Monday.
Over 13,600 homes are also listed as flooded.
In the coastal town of Leogane, located west of Port-au-Prince, in the still waterlogged streets, many were foraged for clothes washed away by the flood hidden in the mud.
“I lost a 5-year-old child. I risked losing two (children), but God left the other one hanging in a tree. I saved one, but I lost one anyway. My house was swept away by the floods,” said Phania Cange as she carried a bucket filled with donated clothes.
At the St. Croix hospital, locals helped wash away the water from waiting rooms and patios. Beds and other objects stood in flooded rooms, while others were laid out in the sun to dry.
The civil protection agency said on Twitter on Monday the death toll had risen since Sunday (June 4) night after floods over the weekend hit various parts of the country, including near the capital Port-au-Prince.
The deadly floods come as Haiti faces an already difficult scenario amid rampant gang violence, which the head of civil protection told the Miami Herald had impeded rescue efforts.
Aid agencies have been delivering food to displaced persons as civil protection officials warned over the weekend that the agricultural sector in parts of the country had been hard hit.
The rains coincide with the start of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June to November.
