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Rain Hampers Flood Relief Efforts in Caribbean - 2004-05-28


More rainy weather is hampering relief efforts in Haiti and the Dominican Republic where at least 1,000 people died in this week's flash floods.

Teams from the United Nations and the Red Cross are working to coordinate aid shipments to flood-ravaged areas on both sides of the Haiti-Dominican border on the Island of Hispaniola.

Relief workers say many roads are not passable. Troops from the U.S. led stabilization force have been using helicopters to deliver drinking water and other supplies to the Haitian town of Mapou, in one of the worst-hit areas.

Aid workers fear the death toll from the devastating floods could reach as high as 2000.

More rain is expected in the coming days as the Caribbean island's hurricane season approaches next week.

Heavy rains triggered Monday's floods, which wiped out entire villages. Many corpses are decomposing in floodwaters, raising fears of disease and contaminated water supplies.

The U.S. Agency for International Development has also provided relief shipments to flood victims and sent teams into the disaster zone to assess damage.

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