Survivors of devastating flooding in Haiti wandered mud-clogged streets in search of food today and officials said the death toll could rise above 660.
Tropical Storm Jeanne swept north of Haiti during the weekend, drenching the impoverished Caribbean nation of eight million, inundating cities and sending deadly mudslides through towns and villages.
The government put the death toll at 662 and expected it to rise as relief workers recovered bodies and reached areas isolated by the now receding water.
The known toll included 550 deaths in Gonaives, 65 in Haiti's Northwest province and 47 in other towns. A top government official for the province of Artibonite, Haiti's most fertile agricultural area, said the toll could rise as around 400 people were missing in Gonaives and surrounding towns.
Relief supplies were starting to reach the worst-hit areas, but the pace was slowed by waterlogged roads and worries about security in a country that is still unstable after an armed revolt ousted ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February.
In Gonaives, a coastal city of 200,000 where large areas were inundated at the weekend, officials said 550 people died, many more were missing and half the population needed immediate assistance with food, water and shelter. "I lost five people (relatives) in the floods and I don't have anything, no water, no food, nothing," said one stunned resident.
Water was still waist-high in places and mud on the windows of homes illustrated a desperate tale of rising water which sent people clambering on to their roofs to survive.
Some people were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Cars were submerged and dead animals littered streets.
The World Food Programme sent a convoy of 12 trucks with 40 tons of food to Gonaives, up a road still waterlogged in parts, and hoped to start handing it out by Wednesday after ensuring that distribution points would be secure, said regional WFP spokesman Alejandro Chicheri.