23376: (Chamberlain) Red Cross seeks more money to aid Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     GENEVA, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The world's largest disaster relief body
nearly tripled on Tuesday an aid appeal for Haiti to $9.2 million, saying
the money was needed to avert a humanitarian crisis on the Caribbean
island.
     At least half the population in and around the northern city of
Gonaives, which took the brunt of hurricane Jeanne last month, was in
urgent need of help, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies said.
     "The scale of the disaster is so great that emergency relief will be
required for several months," said Santiago Gil, head of the Federation's
Americas department.
     Some 200,000 people in Gonaives lost their homes, belongings and
livelihoods in the hurricane, which killed over 1,500 people and injured
2,600, it added in a statement.
     The Federation, which initially appealed for $3.3 million on September
22, said there was a serious risk of epidemics because latrines and other
sanitation facilities had been flooded and many people still had no access
to clean drinking water.