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By JONATHAN M. KATZ

The Associated Press

Published: September 9, 2008

Hurricane Ike's deadly rampage through the Caribbean added to the mudslides and misery in Haiti before slamming into Cuba on Monday.

Ike killed at least 62 people in Haiti, bringing the death toll to 312 in four tropical storms in less than a month. That toll also is likely to rise.

Haiti still lacks a complete picture of the destruction, and desperation was setting in among people who have spent days in the floodwaters and mud.

Most roads remain impassable, with bridges torn away by overflowing rivers and gaping holes preventing aid from moving by land.

Some relief was coming, however, as a U.S. Navy hospital ship equipped with helicopters and amphibious boats neared the capital of Port-au-Prince to deliver food and water to cities still marooned.

Groups in the Tampa Bay area began collecting relief supplies for the flood-stricken island residents.

The agency Help Brings Hope for Haiti has set up a half-dozen drop-off sites the past few days for food, clothing, toiletries and medical supplies, including at the University of Florida's Campus Recreation Center and at Catholic Charities, 2021 E. Busch Blvd., Tampa. The agency's Web site is www.hbhh.org.

The latest storm victims died in the coastal city of Cabaret, as mudslides and floods unleashed by a swollen river crushed homes in the middle of the night.

Sixteen other people, mostly children reported missing by their parents, were being sought in the wreckage, Cabaret civil defense director Henri Louis Praviel said.

There also was still no word on Ike's death toll in other cities, let alone more remote areas.

In Gonaives, Police Commissioner Ernst Dorfeuille said his poorly equipped force - there are 15 officers for the city of 160,000 - has buried dozens of badly decomposed and unidentifiable corpses in graves outside the city.

"After three days, those bodies could not stay," said Dorfeuille, adding he witnessed the burial of five people.

Lines of storm refugees trudged down from denuded hills to the wreckage of their homes and stores.

"They told me it was destroyed but I wanted to see for myself," said Evos Chyot, who slogged through water up to her thighs to find her corner shop filled with black mud and debris.

All across the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation, desperation was evident.

"People are starting to move back because they have nowhere to go," U.N. development official Eric Mouillefarine said. "They want to protect their homes from looters."

The USS Kearsarge was rerouted to Port-au-Prince from a humanitarian mission to Colombia.

With eight helicopters and three landing ships, it can deliver cargo and equipment all over Haiti, providing much of the logistical support needed by aid groups that haven't been able to get through on land.

The Kearsarge also has four operating rooms and 53 hospital beds, which may come in handy once the ship reaches the hard-hit cities of Saint Marc and Gonaives.

"We can deliver several thousand tons a day," said Capt. Fernandez "Frank" Ponds. One of the helicopters delivered rice, beans and cooking oil from the World Food Program to the town of Jeremie on Haiti's southwest peninsula. A woman who cares for 110 children at the Haiti Gospel orphanage was among about 50 people asking for a share.

"My garden was destroyed," said Yvros Pierre, who had just two bags of spoiled bread mix left. "My food is finished. My boss told me to see if there were any Americans coming and ask them for help."

In Cuba, Ike roared down the island's spine toward Havana, the densely populated capital of fragile historic buildings, after ravaging homes and forcing 1.2 million people to evacuate.

Ike made landfall on eastern Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane, then weakened as it ran along the length of the Caribbean's largest island.

Cuban television reported Monday that Ike had killed four people, the first storm deaths on the island this hurricane season.

Tribune reporter Richard Shopes contributed to this report.

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