GONAIVES, Haiti — Hundreds of people fled this waterlogged city Saturday for higher ground as Hurricane Ike threatened to unleash heavy rain and compound a disaster caused by a previous storm. Food was distributed to famished residents, including to emaciated inmates at the local jail.
With a tropical storm warning issued Saturday for Gonaives and other parts of Haiti, some residents climbed on top of cars to reach the second floor of their homes, where they had piled up furniture and spread sheets to provide shade, said Holly Inurreta of Catholic Relief Services.
“We are very concerned about Ike,” she said. “Any bit more of rain and Gonaives will be cut off again.”
Police Commissioner Ernst Dorfeuille told The Associated Press on Saturday that a news report the previous evening that quoted him as saying 495 bodies had been found in Gonaives from Tropical Storm Hanna was completely wrong. He told AP there were 32 confirmed deaths in this city on Haiti’s west coast from the storm that hit Monday.
Ike, a Category 4 hurricane, was expected to skirt northern Haiti late Saturday and today.
In the city, U.N. peacekeepers and aid workers delivered high-energy biscuits and water to famished residents, many of whom had not eaten since Monday. At least 40,000 people remained in emergency shelters.
“What I saw in this city today is close to hell on Earth,” U.N. envoy Hedi Annabi said as he toured the region Saturday.
Dozens of children raised their hands and ran after U.N. food trucks that rumbled through the damp streets of Gonaives. “Hungry! Hungry!” they yelled. The water in many neighborhoods has receded from about 10 feet high to knee-deep.
Food also was brought to inmates at the local jail, several of whom had protruding ribs and labored breathing.
“We haven’t eaten since the storm,” said 32-year-old Sylvin Renold, who had been arrested on theft charges.
Marie-Alta Jean Baptiste, director of the civil protection department, said one more body was found, raising the confirmed death toll from Hanna in Haiti to 167.
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