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The death toll from a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in Haiti soared to at the very least 1,297 Sunday as rescuers raced to discover survivors amid the rubble ahead of a possible deluge from an approaching tropical storm.
Saturday’s earthquake additionally left at the very least 2,800 individuals injured in the Caribbean nation, with thousands more displaced from their destroyed or broken properties.
Survivors in some areas had to shelter in streets or soccer fields with their few salvaged belongings, whereas overloaded hospitals scrambled to assist those that had been injured.
Yet the devastation might quickly worsen with the approaching of Tropical Depression Grace, which is predicted to impact the island Monday night.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center downgraded the tropical storm to a despair Sunday. However, forecasters warned that Grace nonetheless posed a menace to convey heavy rain, flooding, and landslides.
The earthquake struck the southwestern part of Haiti, the hemisphere’s poorest nation, nearly razing some cities and triggering landslides that hampered rescue efforts in a rustic already grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, a presidential assassination, and a wave of gang violence.
The epicenter of the earthquake was about 125 kilometers (78 miles) west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey stated, and aftershocks continued to jolt the realm Sunday.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry declared a one-month state of emergency for the entire nation. He stated he was sending support to areas where cities had been destroyed and hospitals overwhelmed.
“The most important thing is to recover as many survivors as possible under the rubble,” stated Henry. “We have learned that the local hospitals, in particular that of Les Cayes, are overwhelmed with wounded, fractured people.”
“When it comes to medical needs, this is our biggest urgency. We have started to send medications and medical personnel to the facilities that are affected,” Henry said. “For the people who need urgent special care, we have evacuated a certain number of them, and we will evacuate some more today and tomorrow.
