Port-au-Prince, June 6 (RHC)-- Dozens of people have died in the Caribbean island nation of Haiti as heavy rain and flooding devastate the country.   Earlier this week, the government’s disaster response agency said that at least 42 people had been killed, 13,300 had lost their homes, and 11 were missing after a weekend of torrential downpours that triggered mudslides and caused rivers to burst their banks.

“It is essential to follow the recommendations of local authorities on the subject of preventing flood risks and evacuation,” the country’s Civil Protection agency said in a statement on Monday. The agency added it “also takes this moment to remind people at risk not to cross swollen waterways and wild waters under any circumstances.”

The floods have turned city streets into churning brown rivers, damaging homes, displacing residents and carrying away cars and debris.  The disaster is the latest in a series of crises to roil Haiti, which is struggling with an economic downturn, a rise in gang violence and political instability.

Rivers began to overflow due to excessive rain on June 3, forcing people out of their homes in at least five of the country’s 10 departments: Ouest, Nippes, Sud-Est, Nord-Ouest and Centre.

By Sunday, the government reported a death toll of 15.  But on Monday, the Civil Protection agency updated the number of people killed to 42, with at least 85 injured.