The death toll from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti has risen to 1,941, the Caribbean nation's civil protection agency said Tuesday, as a tropical storm brought torrential downpours on survivors already coping with catastrophe.

More than 9,900 people were wounded when the quake struck the southwestern part of the Caribbean nation on Saturday, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the west of the capital Port-au-Prince, according to the updated toll.

With more than 60,000 homes destroyed and 76,000 damaged, the United Nations' children's agency UNICEF said that more than half a million children have been affected by the disaster.

In the coastal town of Les Cayes residents began building makeshift shelters on a football field despite gushing winds and pouring rain as Tropical Storm Grace passed over the country.

So few structures remained standing that people had to relieve themselves in city streets, according to Magalie Cadet, 41, who only had a shower cap to protect against the rain.

Aftershocks continued to rock the ground in Les Cayes days after the quake, further terrifying the residents.

"Yesterday evening, I took shelter near a church, but when I heard the ground shake again, I ran to return here," said Cadet.

– Rather be 'wet than dead' –

The US National Hurricane Center warned of flash and urban flooding, and possible mudslides as Grace lashed the impoverished country with up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain.

Haiti officials warned residents to watch out for buildings that are showing cracks from the earthquake because they could collapse under the weight of water.

Despite the rain, drinking water was running short. In the coastal community of Pestel, over 1,800 cisterns with drinking water have cracked or been destroyed in the quake.

In 2010, in the aftermath of a horrific earthquake that killed 200,000 people, Haiti saw a deadly cholera outbreak caused by sewage from a United Nations base.

Natacha Lormira tried to build a shelter for herself using a torn piece of tarp attached to a thin piece of wood.

"I don't want to hide under a gallery or under a corner of a wall because we have seen people die under wall panels," said Lormira. "We have resigned ourselves that it's easier to be wet than dead."

– Government 'not helping' –

Wet from the constant rain, 28-year-old Vladimir Gilles tried insert several pieces of bamboo deep into the ground to build a cover for his wife and child.

Gilles said he needs some tarp to keep his family dry, but the government "is not helping."

"My house is destroyed, I have nowhere to sleep," he said.

The government has declared a month-long state of emergency in the four provinces affected by the quake.

Rescue workers have pulled out 34 people alive from the rubble in the past 48 hours, authorities said.

But any official rescue efforts in one of the world's poorest countries are complicated by political chaos raging there a month after the assassination of president Jovenel Moise.

Parishioners killed in quake-damaged historic Haiti church
Les Anglais, Haiti (AFP) Aug 17, 2021 –

Its bell tower and yellow walls a sharp contrast with Haiti's blue tropical sky, the historic Immaculee Conception church was the pride of Les Anglais, until it was destroyed by an earthquake Saturday, burying several faithful inside.

On August 14, at exactly 8:29 am (1229 GMT), a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southern Haiti, reducing the church's facade and steeple to a pile of rubble in seconds.

At least 17 people were crushed to death by the collapsing wall and roof.

"I had just finished celebrating the 6:30 am morning mass and had entered the presbytery to have coffee before returning to celebrate baptisms" when the quake struck, said parish priest Wilson Exantus Andre.

"The oldest of the deceased was 24 years old. What is hard is that a woman who has only two children, 18 years old and 3 years old, lost them both," the priest, still in shock, told AFP on Monday.

The bodies of all of the victims were pulled out of the ruins of the church.

The massive quake killed more than 1,400 people across Haiti, according to a preliminary official toll reported on Monday.

– Just seconds –

"It was a beautiful church with very beautiful architecture," said the priest. "It was part of the national heritage, it was the pride of the people of Les Anglais, who never missed an opportunity to talk about it."

But in just a few seconds, the church, built in 1907, was destroyed.

Only part of the nave and the corrugated iron roof withstood the earthquake and its incessant aftershocks. Some of the church's wooden benches were covered in piles of stones that used to be the steeple.

Two people trapped under the rubble were rescued with help from heavy equipment rushed in by workers with a Taiwanese construction company that happened to be working nearby, the priest said.

The survivors were taken to a hospital in the nearby town of Port-a-Piment.

Stunned residents of the coastal hamlet exchanged stories of what they lost in the quake outside the church ruins on Monday.

"It's a tragedy really, we can't believe how it all fell so quickly," one of them said.

They each spoke of relatives killed during the disaster, as nearby a lone child's shoe, black in color but now covered in white dust, lay in the church square.