Haiti flood death toll nears 700

Survivors of devastating flooding in Haiti wandered mud-clogged streets in search of food yesterday 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.

Elie Cantave, the 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, Mercidieu Pierre-Andre, 49.

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.