22100: (Chamberlain) Relief teams scramble as Caribbean flood toll grows (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, May 27 (Reuters) - Rescue workers rushed beans
and rice, drinking water, chlorine tablets and first-aid kits on Thursday
to a remote Haitian town submerged by floods that killed an estimated 2,000
people on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
     Across the border in the Dominican Republic, authorities prepared for
an aerial fumigation to prevent disease in hard-hit Jimani, a town where
flood waters crashed through in the night and killed hundreds of men, women
and children, dumping some of their bodies into a lake full of crocodiles.
     An official on Wednesday reported 1,000 deaths in Mapou, a village
southeast of Haiti's capital, dramatically raising the death toll from
flash floods and mudslides triggered by torrential rains in Haiti and the
Dominican Republic.
     The toll in Haiti stood at about 1,660, while 350 bodies had been
recovered in the Dominican Republic, mostly in Jimani, near the Haitian
border.
     Foreign troops sent to Haiti after a rebellion in February turned to
relief efforts, providing helicopter flights to aid agencies trying to
reach survivors isolated when floods washed out roads across southeastern
Haiti.
     "Mapou is in the middle of a valley and the village is practically
under water," said Lt. Col. David Lapan, spokesman for the multinational
force. "It is like a lake when you look at it from the air."
     Heavy rains last weekend sent rivers of mud and debris through
villages, sweeping away shanties and burying residents on both sides of the
Haiti-Dominican Republic border.
     Haiti confronted its worst natural disaster in years less than three
months after a rebellion killed more than 200 people and helped oust
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
     The 3,500-member U.S.-led peacekeeping force sent to Haiti by the
United Nations sent a fleet of helicopters shuttling between Port-au-Prince
and the stricken areas in a race against thunderstorms that threatened more
misery.
     They carried staples like beans and rice, chlorine tablets to purify
water, shovels and other emergency supplies to Mapou, about 25 miles (40
km) southeast of the capital, and Fond Verettes, a border town where at
least 158 died.
     "We're trying to get as much out as we can before the weather stops us
from flying," Lapan said. "The forecast right now is rain today, tomorrow
and possibly into Saturday. A lot will depend on how much rain we get."
     Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas and four out of five of
its 8 million people live in poverty. The barren land is vulnerable to
floods and mudslides because people have virtually stripped it of trees to
make charcoal cooking fuel.
     Even in the best of conditions, remote Mapou can take three or four
hours to reach from Jacmel, the nearest city on the south coast, said
Sheyla Biamby, a spokeswoman for Catholic Relief Services in Haiti.
     "It is a small town, there is no road access," she said. "It is very
alarming, not many people can reach it to bring food and water."
     International aid groups issued a call for help from around the world.
"We need to act very urgently," said Roromme Chantal, information officer
for the United Nations Development Program. "The situation in Mapou is
very, very dangerous and much worse than we expected it to be."
     On the Dominican side, President Hipolito Mejia, who declared Thursday
a national day of mourning, flew to Jimani and also appealed for
international aid. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sent a planeload of
food and relief supplies.
     Jimani was devastated by raging water that swept bodies as far as 12
miles (20 km) downriver. Some of the victims were found in Lago Enriquillo,
a lake that is home to a large population of crocodiles.
     The Red Cross reported 350 dead. Authorities said about 300 others
were missing and 620 homes severely damaged.
     Authorities planned an aerial spraying of Jimani to prevent the spread
of disease from decomposing corpses that had to be buried before they could
be identified. Dozens were interred in mass graves.

   (Additional reporting by Manuel Jimenez in Jimani)