HURRICANE Tomas flooded the earthquake- shattered remains of a Haitian town yesterday, forcing families who had already lost their homes in one disaster to flee another.

A Spanish military helicopter with four people on board crashed in rugged terrain in Haiti today, the United Nations said.

STUNNED rescuers wrenched a survivor from the rubble after 12 days entombed in Haiti’s quake-ravaged capital, where desperate crowds clamoured yesterday for more and quicker relief.

HAITI can expect more aftershocks in coming weeks, and while the usual pattern suggests they will become weaker and less frequent, another one as strong as yesterday’s jolt is certainly possible, scientists say.

AMID the chaos and the carnage, a signal of hope and life emerges from the rubble and devastation of Haiti’s earthquake.

SCIENTISTS who detected worrisome signs of growing stresses in the fault that unleashed this week’s devastating earthquake in Haiti said they warned officials there two years ago that their country was ripe for a major earthquake.

The largest earthquake ever recorded in the area has rocked Haiti, collapsing a hospital and damaging other buildings.

IN the “casas particulares”, the private houses at which we stayed in various towns in Cuba, we never encountered fleas and only once did we see a cockroach.

Rescue crews working under the glare of floodlights dug through the rubble of a collapsed school in Haiti early today in a frantic search for students who may still be trapped in a disaster that has already killed at least 47 people.

Hurricane Ike roared on to Cuba today after destroying houses and crops on low-lying islands and worsening floods in Haiti that have already killed more than 300 people.

Rescue workers were today considering evacuating New Orleans as it faced a hurricane threat three years to the day that Katrina devastated the city.

Tourists and oil workers fled today as Hurricane Gustav swamped eastern Jamaica on a path to hit the Cayman Islands with winds near hurricane force.

More than three million people in Haiti were bracing themselves today after a developing hurricane appeared to be heading for the capital.

Haitians were told to prepare for evacuations as Tropical Storm Gustav was set to hit the country’s southern coast as a full hurricane tomorrow morning.

Thousands of Haitians sought shelter in schools as the death toll from Tropical Storm Noel rose to 143 across the Caribbean.

Tropical Storm Noel strengthened into a hurricane over the Atlantic today after slamming the Caribbean with heavy rains, flooding and mudslides that left at least 115 dead.

The death toll from Tropical storm Noel rose to 81 today as it headed for the Bahamas amid fears it may reach hurricane force.

Tropical Storm Noel triggered mudslides and floods in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, pushing the region’s death toll to 81 and forcing some parents to choose which of their children to save from the surging waters.

Tropical Storm Noel’s centre spun slowly across Cuba as the system’s outer bands dumped heavy rains on island of Hispaniola, prompting thousands to flee their homes to escape rushing floodwaters and mudslides.

Tropical Storm Noel brought heavy rain and flooding to the Dominican Republic and officials said at least 20 people had died.

Tropical Storm Noel brought heavy rain and flooding to the Dominican Republic today and officials said at least 20 people had died.

Jamaicans headed inland and tourists fled the country as the powerful Hurricane Dean appeared poised to make a direct hit on the island after a deadly and destructive march across the eastern Caribbean.

Hurricane Dean barrelled across the eastern Caribbean today and took aim at Hispaniola, Jamaica and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, with forecasters saying it could turn into a monster Category 5 storm within 72 hours.

Hurricane Dean is heading towards Caribbean islands today with 100mph winds.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, facing criticism that he delayed the release of a German-born Guantanamo Bay prisoner, spoke out against US practices at the base last night during a rare visit to the Caribbean.

Spanish researchers say they have resolved a century-old mystery surrounding Christopher Columbus’s burial place, which both Spain and the Dominican Republic claim. Their verdict: Spain has the right bones.

TRUCKS dumped scores of bodies into a mass grave in a flood-ravaged Haitian city still littered with corpses, as officials said the death toll from Tropical Storm Jeanne rose to more than 1,070 and could rise to 2,000.

Trucks dumped scores of bodies into a mass grave in a flood-ravaged Haitian city as officials said the death toll from Tropical Storm Jeanne rose to more than 1,070 and could double again.

At least 622 people have now been killed by Tropical Storm Jeanne in Haiti, and officials expect to find many more bodies.

HELICOPTERS loaded with drinking water and medicine touched down yesterday in remote villages devastated by floods in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

AMERICAN and Canadian troops yesterday rushed to a town left completely submerged by flooding and where health officials feared 1,000 people could be dead in that town alone.

With dark clouds moving in and more rain predicted, US and Canadian troops raced against time today to reach a small town where up to 1,000 people were feared dead from floods that wiped out villages across Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Haitians turned to US-led troops and international agencies for help as the death toll climbed to about 900 following floods that ravaged Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Hundreds more were missing and presumed dead.

THE caskets of dozens of children lined Jimani’s streets after floods swept away villages and sent families into the darkness and mud in a frantic search for loved ones among the 500 dead and hundreds missing.

The death toll from flooding in the Dominican Republic and Haiti rose to at least 363 today as villagers desperately searched for loved ones feared swept away by the torrent of mud from swollen rivers.

Around 100 people died when floods unleashed by torrential rains swept through a small farming town in the Dominican Republic, officials said.

DEPOSED Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide spoke on Central African Republic state radio soon after landing in the capital, Bangui.

Faced with an armed rebellion and pressured by the US and France, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide left his troubled Caribbean country yesterday, saying he wanted to avert bloodshed.

Haiti’s second-largest city was under threat from rebels today as frightened police barricaded themselves inside their station saying they could not repel an attack on the last major government bastion in the north.

Tropical Storm Odette crept over the Dominican Republic and out to the open Atlantic today after unleashing torrential rains that prompted thousands to flee their homes and left at least two dead.

A boat carrying Haitian migrants capsized off the Dominican Republic, killing one and leaving dozens missing.