"It is tough" to get help to Haiti's people right now because of the extent of the destruction there, but U.S. and international efforts "will steadily increase" and are already substantial, the director of the U.S. Agency for International Development tells NPR.

Dr. Rajiv Shah just told All Things Considered co-host Melissa Block that while the priority right now has to be helping people who are trapped, there is "an all hands on deck effort" to simultaneously ramp up the delivery of food, water, medicines and other much-needed necessities that will get the country back on its feet.

Here's some of what he had to say:

Much more from Melissa's conversation with Shah will be on today's edition of ATC. Click here to find an NPR station near you. And check back here later for more of the interview.

For more of NPR's coverage of the crisis in Haiti following Tuesday's earthquake, click here.