16611: Chamberlain : Haiti-Flood Toll (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Sept 1 (AP) -- Torrential rains that burst river banks
and flooded the western city of St. Marc last week left 11 people dead and
24 missing, civil defense officials said Monday.
   Most of the damage occurred along a 1-mile stretch of the Grande
Riviere, which flows through the city that is located 45 miles northwest of
the capital, Port-au-Prince.
   Rains on Friday pelted Haiti's west-central Artibonite District where
treeless hills were unable to absorb the water. Streams and rivers swelled
and gushed toward the seaside St. Marc. The Grande Riviere burst its banks
and its raging waters tore away the flimsy tin-roofed shacks nearby.
   Some 75 houses were destroyed and 250 damaged, civil defense director
Yolene Surena said.
   The bodies of many of the missing may not be found, since they may have
been swept out to sea, she added.
   The government has created a $25,000 emergency fund to supply food to
the flood victims. Haiti remains the poorest nation in the Western
Hemisphere, with most people surviving on less than $1 a day.