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Floods in Haiti leave 23 dead

Haiti - Seven days of heavy rain has caused flooding and mudslides destroying homes and shanties
Haiti - Seven days of heavy rain has caused flooding and mudslides destroying homes and shanties

Heavy rain hit southern Haiti for a seventh consecutive day yesterday, triggering floods and mudslides and causing houses and shanties to collapse.

The official death toll stands at 23.

Haiti's newly-elected President Michel Martelly took to national television just before midnight to calm the nation as the storm was still passing over the city.

'This message is to tell the population that I'm with you,' the president said.

Mr Martelly ordered government construction workers to show up to work early to help remove debris.

Run-off from the rain sent rivers surging and flooded many homes. The storm felled trees across the country and debris has blocked streets throughout the capital.

In Petionville, a hillside neighbourhood south of Port-au-Prince, a concrete house slid down a ravine and crashed into several smaller houses.

The storm has saturated much of the Caribbean in recent days.

Flooding has been reported in neighbouring Dominican Republic as well as in Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

Authorities have attributed one death in the Dominican Republic and one in Jamaica to the weather.

The week-long period of rain has worsened misery for tens of thousands of people living in tent-and-tarp settlements that sprung up after the devastating 2010 January earthquake in Haiti.

Aid workers have warned that the wet weather could worsen a cholera outbreak that has taken more than 5,300 lives since October.