Death toll in Caribbean floods nears 1,400

Monday, May 31, 2004

JIMANI, Dominican Republic (AFP): Flash flooding has killed 385 people in this small Dominican town near the border with Haiti, where 996 more died, officials said Sunday, as aid workers concentrated on saving the living.

"We believe in God and in generous souls to build a new Jimani," relief coordinator Jose Ramon de la Cruz told AFP.

The Rio Blanco, whose source is in Haiti, overflowed its banks in the early morning hours of May 24.

One of the most-devastated areas was hit Saturday by a mild earthquake, further hampering international rescuers racing to deliver aid to the injured and homeless.

With clean drinking water at a premium and the widespread rupture of sewage lines, authorities said there was the added worry of epidemics.

Helicopters spread disinfectant over the town of Jimani, 280 kilometers (175 miles) southwest of the capital to prevent the spread of disease.

Sixteen Dominicans died outside Jimani, bringing to 401 deaths in the Dominican Republic, according to the National Center for Emergencies. Between the two countries, 1,397 are known to have died.

Many of the dead have been buried in mass graves.

"People have not only economic needs, but psychological as well, for a trauma that is difficult to overcome," the priest said.

An army of rescuers, firefighters and the Red Cross dug into mud-covered homes and streets looking for survivors, although hopes were all but gone of finding anyone alive six days after the floods hit.

The priest said a "new Jimani" will be elsewhere.

"We cannot even think of reconstruction because conditions are such that people cannot stay here even provisionally. We have to think about building in a new area," he said.

De la Cruz said Japan had donated 100,000 dollars. The United States sent 50,000. France sent thousands of meals and military tents, while the United Nations promised 100 tents.

With roads cut off, emergency relief teams struggled to get to the worst-hit villages, which are underneath as many as three meters (10 feet) of water.

With more rain expected, Dominican authorities warned people to stay away from low-lying areas near rivers and valleys.

Spanish State Secretary for Cooperation Leire Pajin said her country would ask the EU to provide reconstruction aid to the two countries.

Spain announced it will deliver 30 tonnes of material next week, while the UN development mission in the Dominican Republic will donate about 750,000 dollars for people who have lost their homes.

The Caribbean Community said it will work through the Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Relief Agency to contribute to the relief effort.

In Haiti, floods affected 16,222 persons, 10,000 of whom are in the area of Mapou Belle-Anse and 6,000 in Fond-Verrettes, where medical teams and rescue workers set up aid centers.

From Port-au-Prince, US military helicopters shuttled drinking water, food and temporary shelter to the affected areas.

In Mapou, thanks to a US helicopter carrying an inflatable boat, a team of French Red Cross workers and Doctors without Borders helped Haitian rescuers recover bodies and animal carcasses from the water.

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