Chaos in Haiti as death toll from heavy flooding rises to 42 and earthquake hits

Haiti was already a vulnerable country and now flooding has pushed many to breaking point with damaged homes and displaced residents

A woman walks through a flooded alley after heavy rain in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (

Image: Odelyn Joseph/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

More than 40 people have died in Haiti after torrential rains caused horrific and widespread flooding ahead of the quake, emergency officials said.

Another 13,000 people were displaced after their homes were damaged and at least 85 people were injured, according to Haiti's Civil Protection Agency.

The town of Léogane, located 40 km southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince, was particularly affected, with damage caused by three flooded rivers.

In the already vulnerable country, this has now pushed many to breaking point.

The streets of the city are now criss-crossed by brown rivers that are damaging houses, displacing residents and carrying cars and debris in their wake.

A man in a wheelchair is helped through a flooded street (

Picture:

PA)

A resident of Léogâne, Phania Cange, told the BBC how her house was washed away by the floods.

She managed to save one of her children, but her five-year-old son died in the floods. She told the outlet, "I risked losing two (kids), but God left the other one hanging from a tree."

The mayor of Léogâne, Ernson Henry, said the townspeople were "desperate".

"They lost everything. The waters ravaged their fields, washed away their livestock," he told the AFP news agency.

Meanwhile, an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.9 hit southern Haiti early today, killing at least three people and injuring several others.

"I thought the whole house was going to fall on me," Eric Mpitabakana, a World Food Program official in Jérémie, told The Associated Press by phone.

Several children have reportedly been hospitalized for injuries sustained after panicking and running.