Official: 470 dead in 1 district of Haiti's southwest

A homeless man lies on a piece of wood in a shelter after Hurricane Matthew in Jeremie, Haiti. Saturday Oct. 8, 2016. Aid has begun pouring into the hard-hit town, where thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed and many people were running low on food and facing an increased risk for cholera. ( AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) (The Associated Press)

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A woman holds her boy who's suffering cholera in the state hospital after Hurricane Matthew, in Jeremie, Haiti. Saturday Oct. 8, 2016. Aid has begun pouring into the hard-hit town, where thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed and many people were running low on food and facing an increased risk for cholera. ( AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) (The Associated Press)

Yoleine Casimir stands in her destroyed house caused by Hurricane Matthew, in Jeremie, Haiti. Saturday Oct. 8, 2016. Aid has begun pouring into the hard-hit town, where thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed and many people were running low on food and facing an increased risk for cholera. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) (The Associated Press)

JEREMIE, Haiti – A civil protection official says at least 470 people have died in one district of Haiti's hard-hit southwest region after Hurricane Matthew pummeled that area earlier this week.

Fridnel Kedler told The Associated Press on Saturday that he expects that number to rise because authorities haven't been able to reach two communities in the Grand-Anse department on the peninsula's northern tip.

The overall death toll remains unknown. Death counts are frequently difficult to tabulate in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster in any country, though it is particularly difficult in remote and mountainous southwest Haiti.