Death toll from flooding in Haiti climbs to 42; others still missing

June 6 (UPI) -- Authorities in Haiti said the death toll from mass flooding and landslides that hit the Hispaniola island nation over the weekend has climbed to 42 with 11 people still missing.

The country's Civil Protection Agency issued the updated casualty count Monday, showing that 85 others were also injured after Haiti was inundated with heavy rain that caused flooding on Saturday.

More than 13,500 houses were flooded by the natural disaster in five of Haiti's 10 administrative regions known as departments, affecting nearly 13,000 families and forcing 6,300 people to evacuate, the agency said.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs states that a provisional toll from the flooding shows more than 37,000 people impacted including 13,400 who have been displaced.

In an update on the situation, the U.N. office warns that further flooding is possible in the days and months ahead.

It said that while the situation has calmed though rain still falls on some departments, if a new low-pressure system moves over the nation in the next week, the waterlogged soils will be unable to prevent further flooding in the event of heavy rainfall.

Meanwhile concerns are rising over the need to provide aid. Martin Griffiths, the U.N.'s under secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, tweeted Monday that even before the weekend's flooding, half the population was in "dire need of humanitarian assistance."

"Although this is not a cyclone nor a tropical storm, considerable damage was observed in the affected areas," Jean-Martin Bauer, Haiti's acting humanitarian coordinator, said in a statement. "I am particularly concerned by the situation at a time with the Haitian population is already highly vulnerable."

The World Food Program said it would hand out hot meals to those displaced and were in the process of mobilizing ready-to-eat rations and other dry goods.