Flooding from torrential rains in Haiti has left at least 42 people dead over the past couple days and dozens more missing and injured, officials said on Monday.
Over 13,600 homes are also listed as flooded.
The civil protection agency said on Twitter on Monday the death toll had risen since Sunday night after floods over the weekend hit various parts of the country, including near the capital Port-au-Prince.
“My government, together with national and international institutions, is adopting urgent measures to meet the demands of the day,” Prime Minister Ariel Henry said in a government statement on Sunday.
Related: BLACK COUPLE VISITING FAMILY IN HAITI HELD FOR $200,000 RANSOM PER PERSON
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.
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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.
The rains coincide with the start of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June to November.
The devastation comes after the United States on Friday blocked former Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe from entering the United States over what Secretary of State Antony Blinken said was his “involvement in significant corruption.”
“This action renders Lamothe generally ineligible for entry into the United States,” the State Department said.
In its statement, the State Department accused Lamothe of misappropriating “at least $60 million from the Haiti
an government’s PetroCaribe investment and social welfare fund for private gain.”Lamothe, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, resigned in 2014 following weeks of protests calling for him and then-President Michel Martelly to step down.
(Reporting by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Angus MacSwan)