Hanna storms ashore in the U.S as Haiti counts the cost with death toll now more than 500

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 10:04 AM on 06th September 2008

Tropical Storm Hanna roared ashore in North and South Carolina today as receding waters in Haiti revealed the death toll had risen above 500. 

Hanna killed at least 529 people as it swept over the Caribbean republic and was just short of Category 1 hurricane strength when it struck  the U.S. this morning.

The weather system is now expected to move rapidly north east along the East Coast over the weekend, bringing heavy rains and possible flash floods.

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Devastation: Flood waters in Haiti have now receded but the country is covered in mud and more than 500 people have been killed

As it tears through the U.S., Haiti - where storm damage has been described as catastrophic - is trying to start the clean-up.

However, an estimated 600,000 people have been left struggling after it flooded homes and battered crops.

Aid workers have now started delivering to the stricken country, with a huge 33-ton package from the UN of food and fresh water arriving there yesterday.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Ike still threatens further devastation.

It is currently churning in the open Atlantic but there are fears it could head towards Florida or vital oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. authorities have declared a state of emergency, with several North Carolina beach communities ordered or evacuate.

Campgrounds were shut and storm alerts issued from Georgia to New Jersey as the eighth tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season raged.

By 2am, Hanna was just 60miles (95km) south west of Wilmington, North Carolina, and was racing north at 21mph (34kph) with top winds of 70mph (115kph).

Calm after the storm: A family stands in a flooded street in Gonaives, while below people queue for essential food and water flown in by aid workers

Ike, with its top winds of 115mph (185kph) represents an even greater threat and could affect the Gulf Coast's 4,000 offshore oil and gas platforms.

Early this morning, it was spinning 330miles (530km) from Grand Turk Island and was expected to sweep west towards the Bahamas by Sunday.

The Government there has sent soldiers and emergency supplies to its southern islands, left short of food and water.

'If we have heavy flooding and lose power, we could be in an uncomfortable situation,' said chief councilor Earnel Brown of the island of Mayaguana.

Ike is expected to remain a 'major' storm of Category 3 or higher over the weekend.

Visitors were ordered to evacuate the Florida Keys today and residents were ordered out as of tomorrow.

'It's a lot coming at us. But we must remain vigilant, focused and calm,' Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said.

A Category 4 hurricane strike on Miami would be a huge disaster because of the billions of dollars of vulnerable real estate in low-lying islands like Miami Beach and along the coast of the Florida peninsula.

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Foreboding: A resident watches from Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina as the tide comes in and Hanna approaches. Below, a shop in Myrtle Beach is boarded up

The storm could instead go over Cuba, where Hurricane Gustav has already caused damage that former President Fidel Castro compared to the aftermath of a nuclear bomb.

Tropical Storm Josephine weakened into a tropical depression far out in the Atlantic, knocking out the weakest of three storms that followed Hurricane Gustav's rampage through the Caribbean to Louisiana.

Gustav came ashore on Monday west of New Orleans, largely sparing the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

The flurry has underscored predictions for an unusually busy six-month hurricane season.

An average season has 10 tropical storms, of which six strengthen into hurricanes with top sustained winds of at least 74 mph (119 kph).

Danger: A satellite image shows Hurricane Ike (bottom) nearing the Bahamas yesterday while Tropical Storm Hanna (top left) heading for the U.S. coast

Josephine was already this year's 10th, and the statistical Sept. 10 peak of the storm season still lies ahead.

While Hanna did little damage as it raced past the Bahamas and posed only a moderate threat to the U.S. East Coast, the death toll in Haiti rose steadily as the floods unleashed by its torrential rains began to recede.

Police Commissioner Ernst Dorfeuille said 495 bodies had been found in the mud-heaped port city of Gonaives, where thousands survived by climbing on rooftops. That brought the toll for all of Haiti to at least 529.

Ships and planes had begun to arrive with desperately needed aid for Haiti, which has been hit by three deadly storms in less than a month.

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