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Tropical Storm Grace drenching earthquake-stricken Haiti

Haiti Earthquake Tropical Storm
Posted at 5:00 AM, Aug 17, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-17 07:37:33-04

Tropical Storm Grace is drenching Haiti just two days after a powerful earthquake struck the impoverished Caribbean nation.

The tropical depression regained storm status overnight on Monday, adding to the misery of the thousands of people who lost loved ones, were injured or became homeless.

The storm arrived as officials raised the earthquake's death toll to 1,419.

Grace has also forced overwhelmed hospitals and rescuers to act quickly.

According to a 5 a.m. ET update Tuesday morning from the National Hurricane Center, Grace was packing maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and bringing heavy rainfall to the island nation.

The country’s southwestern area was hit the hardest by Saturday’s earthquake, and it began to see heavy rain and strong winds after nightfall on Monday.

Officials warned that rainfall could reach 15 inches in some areas of southwestern Haiti. Haiti's capital also saw heavy rains.

The National Hurricane Center says Haiti and the Dominican Republic could potentially face deadly mudslides in the coming days amid the rainfall.

Meteorologists forecast that Grace will continue its westward path over the next several days and make landfall with the northern Yucatan Peninsula. The storm will then likely cross back over into the Gulf of Mexico and make landfall with Mexico's eastern coast.