With Skyrocketing Death Toll, Local Organizations Work To Save Lives After Saturday's 7.2 Magnitude Quake In Haiti

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - As survivors are being pulled from the rubble after Saturday's 7.2 magnitude quake in Haiti, Southern California organizations helping with the efforts are scrambling to save as many trapped as possible.

At least 1,297 people have died and a minimum of 2,800 are injured, according to the latest reporting by CBS News.

Margarett Lubin is a country director with CORE -- Community Organized Relief Effort -- a nonprofit started by actor Sean Penn after the 2010 earthquake that struck Haiti, killing hundreds of thousands of people. According to her, this quake may be even more difficult to come back from.

"It's a disaster. It's panic. Hospitals are flattened, churches," Lubin said. "People are suddenly homeless. Hospitals are overwhelmed. They need more doctors and medication and medical supplies."

With an epicenter that was 80 miles from Port Au Prince, Lubin said the towns most affected are hard to reach, which is why her team launched Saturday with heavy equipment to help access villages that no one has heard from yet.

"Then you have the roadblocks and trees on the road, you have the landslides that make it even worse," she said.

The death toll, which skyrocketed overnight, continues to rise.

"I think we will know within a week or two what, you know, the real impact is up there," Lubin said. "We need to be able to respond early enough so new needs are not created."

As for what CORE and other organizations need, Lubin says medical supplies, hygiene kits and tents are at the top of the list.

"You can't ignore the pandemic that will spread if we don't get people in homes as soon as possible," she said.

Making the situation even more dire, tropical storm Grace is just days away from potentially making landfall in Haiti.

Despite the harrowing odds, Lubin says she's confident the world will show up for Haiti one more time.

"We've done this before. They will rise again."