RELIEF workers are warning of an epidemic of diseases such as malaria and tetanus in Haiti, as a humanitarian crisis mounts following devastating floods that killed 1,650 people and left 400,000 homeless.

Hundreds of people fled their homes and took refuge in shelters set up in schools and churches today as Hurricane Jeanne bore down on the Bahamas with 100mph winds and torrential rains, threatening more destruction to an island chain still recovering from Hurricane Frances.