Rescue and recovery efforts in Haiti following the recent massive earthquake are being hampered by a downpour from Grace, which was upgraded from a tropical depression to a tropical storm early Tuesday.

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       Heavy rains from the storm have already caused flooding across parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Up to 10 inches of rain were expected to drench Haiti on Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center, with isolated areas seeing 15 inches. Flash flooding and mudslides were also anticipated, which could lead to further complications as rescue crews scramble to find and help victims of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Saturday, killing at least 1,419 people.

       With the death toll expected to climb, the deluge added to the crisis for still-recovering Haiti. The entire coast of the country was under a tropical storm watch, as of the Hurricane Center’s Tuesday morning update.

       Aid workers scramble to save Haiti earthquake victims as Grace regains tropical storm status

       The storm struck the area as aid began to reach Haiti. U.S. Coast Guard aircrews have been transporting injured Haitian residents from heavily impacted areas this week.

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       Samantha Power, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, tweeted that the agency, working with groups from the United Nations, was set to distribute supplies to residents and hot meals Tuesday to hospitals in Les Cayes and Jeremie, two of the areas that were hardest hit. Images have shown hospitals in heavily damaged towns overwhelmed following the quake.

       Power wrote that amid the response, Grace was “complicating transport but US personnel are moving into the impacted areas as quickly as possible.”

       Tropical Depression Grace drenching Haiti days after major earthquake

       Many Haitians were still waiting for assistance even before the rains approached. Alexi Faveur, former Beaumont mayor, said residents of the area, normally a two-hour drive south of Jeremie, were waiting for help on Monday and that thousands were on their own as the storm loomed.

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       “Eighty percent of all homes have been destroyed, and any passable road has been blocked by mudslides,” said Faveur, a member of the community development association.

       Tropical Storm Grace was nearing Jamaica as of Tuesday morning, located about 120 miles east of Montego Bay. The National Hurricane Center warned that the system could near hurricane strength later this week as it approaches the Yucatán coast of Mexico.

       Officials said ahead of the downpour that critical assistance was needed fast.

       Marie-Helene L’Esperance, mayor of the harbor town of Pestel, said the anticipation of heavy rains has “spread fear through residents who had nothing left but to pray.”

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       “We’re pleading for help,” she told Haiti’s Pacific Radio. “Every house was destroyed. There’s nowhere to live. We need shelters, medical help and especially water. We’ve had nothing for three days, and injured victims are starting to die.”

       Read more:

       Massive quake leaves diaspora wondering: ‘Why has so much pain come unto Haiti?’

       Photos: The scene after a deadly earthquake strikes Haiti

       Haiti’s long, terrible history of earthquakes and disaster