Heavy rain from Tropical Storm Grace is forcing Haiti’s government to temporarily pause rescue efforts in the aftermath of a deadly weekend earthquake, which has left thousands of people homeless and in need of assistance across the country’s hard-hit southwest.

The pause on Tuesday came after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck on Saturday morning, killing at least 1,941 people and injuring more than 9,900 others, according to the most recent figures from Haiti’s civil protection agency.

The Caribbean country, already struggling to cope with COVID-19, widespread gang violence and political instability worsened in the aftermath of President Jovenel Moise’s killing last month, now faces the difficult task of rebuilding, caring for the injured, and providing emergency shelter and supplies for tens of thousands of displaced families.

By Tuesday morning, only a light rain was falling over Les Cayes, the southern coastal city that bore the brunt of the tremor.

More than 100 people scrambled to repair makeshift coverings made of wooden poles and tarps that were destroyed by the storm overnight in a makeshift encampment. Mathieu Jameson, deputy head of a committee formed by the tent city residents, said hundreds of people there were in urgent need of food, shelter and medical care.

“We don’t have a doctor. We don’t have food. Every morning more people are arriving. We have no bathroom, no place to sleep. We need food, we need more umbrellas,” said Jameson, adding the tent city was still waiting for government aid.

Officials said the earthquake destroyed more than 7,000 homes and damaged nearly 5,000 others, leaving some 30,000 families homeless. Hospitals, schools, offices and churches also were demolished or badly damaged.

“We are in an exceptional situation,” Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry told reporters on Monday as the tropical storm approached

“As of this Monday, we will act with greater speed. Aid management will be accelerated. We will increase our energy tenfold to reach, in terms of assistance, the most victims as possible,” Henry also tweeted.

‘We need help’

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in an 11am (15:00 GMT) update on Tuesday that tropical storm conditions were expected and could bring an additional two to four inches of rain to southern Haiti and a maximum of 15 inches in some areas.

“This heavy rainfall should lead to flash and urban flooding, and possible mudslides,” the NHC said.

“The already difficult situation has worsened,” the country’s civil protection agency tweeted. It said search and rescue crews had removed 16 people alive from the rubble on Tuesday morning, but that nine more dead bodies had been recovered.

“But we still have … a lot of people sleeping out in the open, either because they’re worried about what might happen in terms of aftershocks or because their houses were damaged or destroyed,” he said.

This is not the first humanitarian crisis to hit this part of Haiti, however, as Hurricane Matthew caused catastrophic damage in October 2016, levelling an estimated 200,000 homes and killing hundreds.

Doctors worked in makeshift tents outside of hospitals to save the lives of hundreds of injured, including young children and the elderly.

The United Nations’ child rights agency (UNICEF) said on Tuesday that about 1.2 million people, including 540,000 children, have been affected by the earthquake. It also said the storm is disrupting access to water, shelter and other services in the hard-hit South, Nippes and Grand’Anse departments.

“Countless Haitian families who have lost everything due to the earthquake are now living literally with their feet in the water due to the flooding,” Bruno Maes, the UNICEF representative in Haiti. said in a statement.

“Right now, about half a million Haitian children have limited or no access to shelter, safe water, healthcare and nutrition.”