22:09 26Oct2005 Tropical Storm Alpha's death toll climbs to 26

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Several more deaths were
confirmed in Haiti and the Dominican Republic from flooding caused by
Tropical Storm Alpha, bringing the death toll to 26, officials said on
Wednesday.
The storm drenched the two countries, which share the Caribbean island
of Hispaniola, with torrential rain on Monday and caused flash floods that
swept away people, houses and animals.
Alpha was the 22nd named tropical cyclone of the Atlantic hurricane
season, breaking the record for number of storms set in 1933 and making 2005
the most active hurricane season since records began 150 years ago.
Mountainous Haiti is especially vulnerable to floods and mudslides
because much of the impoverished country has been stripped of trees by
desperately poor people whose main source of fuel is charcoal.
Five more deaths were confirmed in Haiti on Wednesday, bringing the
death toll in the country to 17, civil protection officials said.
Nine people died in the Dominican Republic, officials said. Six of the
deaths occurred in the coastal province of Puerto Plata, in the north, when
a river broke its banks.

Wednesday, 26 October 2005 22:09:11RTRS [nNAQ371857] {C}ENDS