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PORT-AU-PRINCE : Hundreds of people were found dead in Haiti as international aid trickled Saturday to desperate residents who have not eaten in days since the latest in a battery of storms crushed the country.
As the death toll jumped nearly five-fold in the wake of Tropical Storm Hanna, the poorest country in the Americas faced a possible new beating from Hurricane Ike, which threatened to graze Haiti's vulnerable northwest coast.
And more deaths could emerge.
"The toll is increasing hourly," warned the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). "According to information from the government we have reached more than 500 deaths."
Ground zero of the devastation was in Gonaives, a flood-prone northwestern coast city where about 3,000 people died four years ago when it was drowned by Tropical Storm Jeanne.
Massive deforestation has left Haiti vulnerable to flooding and mudslides. After Hanna struck earlier this week, many residents took refuge on the roofs of their homes before they were rescued by UN helicopters.
"The town of Gonaives has been completely devastated. The streets are lined with groups of people walking through the streets trying to find higher ground", said Parnell Denis, the contact for aid organization Oxfam in Gonaives.
"Food supplies and water are scarce and the price of the food that's left is rising," Denis said. "The morale of people staying in the shelters is so very low; I am afraid to tell them that another storm is on its way."
Hurricane Ike was forecast to pass north of Haiti, sparing it from a direct hit, according to the US National Hurricane Center. But a tropical storm warning was issued for the Caribbean country's northern peninsula.
Ike, packing winds of 175 kilometers (110 miles) per hour, threatened to become a major hurricane again as it approached the Bahamas, the center said.
Senator Yuri Latortue, who represents Gonaives, called the situation "catastrophic."
"I know perfectly well that the hurricane season has hit our entire country, but the situation in Gonaives is truly special, because now some 200,000 people there haven't eaten in three days," he said.
Haiti was already hit in recent weeks by two other storms, Gustav and Fay, which left nearly 120 people dead.
The World Food Program said it was bringing water, food and other humanitarian aid to Haiti by air and sea. The United Nations agency has already delivered food to 14,000 Haitians affected by Gustav.
The two main roads to the cities of Gonaives and Cap Haitien were blocked by fallen trees, complicating the task of humanitarian groups trying to deliver crucial aid, OCHA said.
The UN agency said it would issue an appeal in the coming days for urgent financial aid to help 600,000 people over the next six months.
In Brussels, the European Commission has launched "fast-track" aid action for two million euros (2.9 million dollars) to provide relief for Haitians. Canada announced Saturday it would distribute 600,000 dollars.
Switzerland has pledged aid worth one million Swiss francs (901,000 dollars) and the US Agency for International Development has allocated 100,000 dollars to help the impoverished Caribbean republic, OCHA said.
Michele Pierre-Louis, Haiti's new prime minister who was approved Friday to take office after four months of political standstill, now will have to manage a grim humanitarian crisis.
President Rene Preval said he was distressed by events and urged the international community to rally to Haiti's aid.
- AFP /ls
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