PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) — The Civil Protection Office (CPO) yesterday said that at least one person was killed and four others were missing after heavy rains battered Haiti, triggering landslides and flooding on Monday.

CPO spokesman Edgard Celestin said a man was helping someone cross the Dame Marie River when both were swept away.

One body was later found. Celestin said three farmers were also missing as a result of the rains that triggered a mudslide in Port-de-Paix.

However Jean-Henri Petite, the coordinator of the Civil Protection Office for northern Haiti, said the worst damage to property was in northern Haiti, where 10,000 homes between Cap-Haitien and Limonade were damaged by flooding.

He said the rains started on Saturday, but that poor drainage in Cap-Haitien and an overflowing river triggered the second major flooding incident here.

The rains and flood damage came as the El Niño weather phenomenon has led to some of the worst drought conditions in Haiti since 2001.