22124: (Chamberlain) Tons of aid headed to flood victims in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, May 28 (Reuters) - Rescuers raced against time
and weather on Friday to reach stranded survivors who scratched for water
in the dirt of villages ravaged by floods that killed more than 2,000
people on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
     The World Food Program rushed 20 tons of rice, cereal and vegetables
aboard military helicopters destined for 4,000 people in Mapou, a remote
valley village submerged by flood waters that triggered mudslides this week
in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
     "Mapou is a completely devastated village. It is under some feet of
water," said Inigo Alvarez, a WFP official who traveled to the town some 25
miles (40 km) southeast of Port-au-Prince. "The villagers are in a
desperate situation. They were asking for food."
     In Mapou and surrounding villages isolated when mountain roads were
washed out by the floods, an estimated 10,000 people were in immediate need
of help, international aid groups said.
     Bijo Cadet, a 40-year-old resident of the area, said people were
digging in the dirt for pools of water to drink.
     "We sit here. We are waiting to see what God will do for us," Cadet
said.
     Aid workers said they feared the dire need for water could trigger an
epidemic.
     "Some of the wells in the area are already contaminated by the
decomposing bodies of the people and animals," Alvarez said.
     The death toll in Haiti stood at about 1,800, including 1,000 reported
deaths in Mapou, hundreds more in surrounding villages in the southeast and
some 160 in Fond Verettes, a town near the Dominican border flattened by
flood waters. About 350 people were killed in the Dominican Republic, most
in the border town of Jimani.
     Just three months after a bloody rebellion that ousted its president
and government, Haiti was confronting its worst natural disaster in a
decade with the help of U.S., French and other foreign troops sent by the
United Nations for security.
     With roads impassable, military helicopters meant for peacekeeping
duties were providing critical transportation to remote villages. Some
flights were grounded by thunderstorms on Thursday and bad weather
threatened the rescue effort again on Friday.
     Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas. Most of its 8 million
people scratch out a living from the land and per capita annual income is
about $300. Haitians have cut down virtually all of the nation's trees to
make charcoal for cooking fuel, leaving the barren land vulnerable to flash
flood and mudslides.
     The World Food Program delivered 12 tons of emergency supplies on
Thursday to Fond Verettes, where an estimated 8,500 people are in dire
need. Relief agencies issued a worldwide call for aid.
     In the Dominican Republic, authorities in the devastated town of
Jimani were focusing efforts on avoiding outbreaks of disease in the area.
     Officials said 329 people were killed, and some 370 were missing. More
than 600 homes were swept away.
     Rescue teams had combed a large area from the worst hit part of Jimani
to Lago Enriquillo, a crocodile-infested lake some 12 miles (20 km) away
where many bodies were swept as a river burst its banks and hurtled through
the town on Monday. They had little hope of finding more victims.
     Health Minister Jose Rodriguez Soldevilla said a massive aerial
fumigation was being organized. Many rescue workers and residents were
wearing masks as the stench of decomposing bodies spread.
     In the worst hit parts of town, such as La Cuarenta neighborhood,
desolate relatives continued to search the mud and rubble for the bodies of
their family members.
     "I have been left all alone," wept Cecilia Cuevas, a 42-year-old woman
who said she had lost her 5-year-old son, her parents and five siblings.

  (Additional reporting by Manuel Jimenez in Jimani)