At least 42 people were killed and 11 others remained missing after torrential rains caused devastating flooding across Haiti, officials said Monday.
The deluge began Friday and continued throughout the weekend on the island nation about 600 miles south of Miami.
Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency said at least 85 people were injured and more than 13,500 homes were flooded.
The flooding was worst in key agricultural areas and in the city of Léogâne, a southern suburb of the capital of Port-au-Prince. International agencies warned of increased starvation risk due to widespread crop damage.
The downpour came just days into the Atlantic hurricane season, which typically lasts from June to November.
“A significant weather-induced event of this level so early in the hurricane season…raises concerns about the ability to provide a sustained response should extreme weather incidents continue to occur,” the United Nations’ World Food Program said.
The WFP said it would provide ready-to-eat meals for 15,000 people affected by the crisis, according to the Miami Herald.
The disaster response was slowed in part because the government does not have control over some portions of the country, officials told the Herald. Haiti has been roiled by gang violence since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated at his home in July 2021.
Gangs control an estimated 80% of Port-au-Prince, and citizens have responded by creating vigilante groups, which they say are for their own protection.
Jerry Chandler, head of the Civil Protection Agency, told the Herald his employees were working “timidly” to provide help as they traveled through gang-controlled areas.
In October, Prime Minister Ariel Henry asked for international military help to deal with the gangs, but the call was not answered.
Henry said the government was responding to the floods as best it could.
“My government, together with national and international institutions, is adopting urgent measures to meet the demands of the day,” he said Sunday.