22068: (Chamberlain) Caribbean-Storms (later story) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- More than 200 bodies have been recovered
in Haiti after deadly floods swept through the impoverished nation and
neighboring Dominican Republic, the Haitian government said Wednesday. More
than 500 people were killed in the two countries, and hundreds were
missing.
   In the southern town of Grand Gosier, about 30 miles east of the
Dominican border, rescue teams collected 100 corpses, and another 100 in
the neighboring town of Mopou, said Haiti's Civil Protection Director Marie
Alta Jean-Baptiste.
   In addition to those dead, 158 were missing in Fond Verette, a Haitian
town near the Dominican border town of Jimani, where more than 300 bodies
have been recovered.
   Troops from a U.S.-led multinational force sent to stabilize Haiti after
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted on Feb. 29 returned to the
worst affected Haitian towns early Wednesday, ferrying bottles of drinking
water, medical supplies and food.
   Multinational forces made 12 helicopter trips to Fond Verette on Tuesday
to assess the needs of an estimated 3,000 people. The town's roads have
been blocked by mudslides.
   Help has not yet been able to reach Mopou, and more than 150 are
reportedly injured and without health care, the Haitian government said.
   "There are other places that need help, but we can't do it all," said
U.S. Marines Lt. Col. Dave Lapan, whose forces are set to make a handover
to a U.N. force on June 1.