Gonaives _ a collection of concrete buildings, run-down shacks and plazas with dilapidated fountains _ lies in a flat river plain between the ocean and deforested mountains that run with mud even in light rains.
Hanna swirled over Haiti for four days, dumping vast amounts of water, blowing down fruit trees and ruining stores of food as it swamped tin-roofed houses.
Hanna finally moved north Thursday with near hurricane-force winds on a path toward the southeastern U.S. coast.
But in the chaos there was no way to know how many people might be dead, or how many had been driven from their homes.
Two other storms killed 85 people in August, and forecasters warned that fearsome Hurricane Ike could hit Haiti next week.
Haiti's government has few resources to help. Rescue convoys have been blocked by floodwaters, although the U.N. World Food Program said Thursday it was sending a food-laden boat to Gonaives from the capital, Port-au-Prince, and would set up a base in the stricken city.
"All roads able to access Gonaives are cut either by bridges that have collapsed, by trees that have fallen down, or by waters that have washed away parts of the streets," U.N. food agency representative Myrta Kaulard said.
