From the Voice of America
The death toll rose to 1,297 on Sunday after a devastating earthquake struck Haiti a day earlier, civil authorities said.
Haiti’s Civil Protection service said the number of injured people also rose to 5,700. Hospitals were struggling to cope with those who had arrived for care.
Officials continued to search for survivors in the aftermath of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Saturday morning. The quake was centered near the town of Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, about 125 kilometers west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake, which damaged houses, roads and bridges on the country’s southwest peninsula, displaced thousands of people.
Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry said on Sunday, “We must work together to provide rapid and effective responses to this extremely serious situation.” He had flown to Les Cayes on Saturday to survey the damage.
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Compounding the difficulties facing the country, a tropical storm watch has been issued for the entire coast of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Tropical Depression Grace is expected to bring heavy rain to the island Monday, leading to flash flooding and mudslides.
Many residents in Les Cayes, the country’s third-largest city with a population of 90,000, stayed outdoors overnight, as aftershocks continued to rock the area into Sunday.
The U.S. Geological Survey said on Saturday that the earthquake increased the risk of landslides in the area, which is a major concern as Tropical Depression Grace, downgraded from a tropical storm on Sunday, bears down on the island of Hispaniola.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecast the storm is likely to reach Hispaniola by Monday and will drop from 10-20 centimeters of rain on Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the western and eastern sides of the island, respectively.
The heavy rain could trigger landslides, hampering search and rescue efforts and stalling aid reaching affected areas.
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