23334: (Chamberlain) Haiti flood death toll passes 3,000 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Haiti's death toll from last
month's devastating flooding rose to more than 3,000 on Tuesday, according
to government officials who released what they believe is the final death
tally.
     Tropical Storm Jeanne swept north of Haiti nearly three weeks ago and
lashed the Caribbean nation with heavy rains that triggered massive
flooding and mudslides and washed away whole villages.
     Haiti's secretary of state for environment, Yves Andre Wainright, said
those killed in the flooding numbered 3,006 and included 2,826 in the
mud-crusted coastal city of Gonaives.
     The toll has climbed steadily as rescue workers reached remote areas
and recovered bodies buried in the mud. Wainright and a government official
in Gonaives, Carl Murat Cantave, said those missing since the floods struck
were now presumed dead, and they did not expect the toll to rise further.
     In Geneva on Tuesday, the International Federation of Red Cross and
Red Crescent Societies nearly tripled its aid appeal for Haiti, and said
$9.2 million was urgently needed to avert a humanitarian crisis.
     Some 200,000 people in Gonaives lost their homes, belongings and
livelihoods in the hurricane.
     Wainright said relief agencies had provided emergency food to 256,000
people in the flood areas. The aid food distribution has been marred by
unruly crowds of hungry people, and by armed gangs that have looted
convoys.
     Wainright said relief workers were distributing cards to help them
keep track of who had already received emergency rations, to prevent some
from double-dipping while others went without.
     Another priority would be finding land to build shelters for those
left homeless and rebuilding schools, he said. Nearly all the schools in
Gonaives were destroyed and those left standing were being used as
shelters.
     The Red Cross said there was a serious risk of epidemics because
latrines and other sanitation facilities had been flooded and many people
still lacked access to clean drinking water.
     Haiti, which is the poorest country in the Americas, has a population
of about 8 million and is prone to deadly floods because 98 percent of its
forests have been chopped down, largely to make charcoal for cooking. In
May, about 2,000 people died in flooding in the South of the country.