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New Storms May Threaten Southeastern U.S.
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This was particularly unwelcome news in Haiti, where more than 100 people have been reported killed in the three storms that have struck Hispaniola so far. The latest, Hanna, came as the country was still recovering from the blows of Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Fay in the past two weeks.
Especially hard hit by Hanna was the low-lying port of Gonaives on Haiti's western coast, where a dozen deaths were reported and a number of people were stranded on their rooftops by rising floodwaters.
"This is a catastrophe," Haitian Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime told a radio station from Gonaives, Reuters news agency reported. "It's really a major disaster. . . . There are a lot of people who have been on top of the roofs of their homes over 24 hours now. They have no water, no food, and we can't even help them."
Iris Norsil, 20, who managed to flee Gonaives, told the Associated Press that people on rooftops "are screaming for help."
As the floodwaters rose, a U.N. aid convoy and another convoy carrying Haitian Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis were forced to abandon efforts to drive into the city, AP reported.
"The situation is as bad as it can be," Vadre Louis, a U.N. official in Gonaives, told the agency. "The wind is ripping up trees. Houses are flooded with water. Cars can't drive on the street. You can't rescue anyone, wherever they may be."
Haiti is especially vulnerable to flooding and mudslides because many of its hills have been stripped of their forest cover as Haitian peasants have cleared land for agriculture and cut down trees to use as fuel for cooking.
