Ike Further Cripples Haiti

Catholic Relief Services staff arrived in the flooded city of Gonaives, Haiti, on Saturday September 6 with food, water and hygiene supplies for hundreds of families stranded on their rooftops or crammed into shelters. As if Hurricane Gustav and Topical Storm Hanna had not left a great enough mark, Hurricane Ike was the latest in a series of storms to leave the poor Caribbean nation devastated. Gonaives is a floodplain, one of the biggest watersheds in Haiti. Severe deforestation means the water isn't absorbed and thus creates massive flooding.

In low-lying communities, fragile homes were destroyed and the main bridge collapsed. Crops that would have brought some relief from the country's existing food crisis disappeared beneath rising waters. A port city, Gonaives had not seen this level of flooding since 2004 after Tropical Storm Jeanne caused up to 2,000 deaths here. These photos, taken in the hours before Ike struck, provide a glimpse into Haiti's condition.

All photos by Alix Innocent/CRS