Residents of Gonaives, Haiti, have been cut off from aid by floodwaters stemming from the deluge caused by Tropical Storm Hanna. U.N. and U.S. officials said they will use boats and planes to deliver food and water.

More Photos (6):

Related articles:

Tropical Storm Hanna kills 13 in northern Haiti Hanna's here; mighty Ike loomsLots of rain, some flooding as Hanna heads inland

Health Care
Dependable Health Services
Physical Therapists Construction
West-Press
Printing Health Care
Sierra Tucson
Eating Disorders Program Coordinator Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic Health Care
CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION

Tropical Storm Hanna roared along the edge of the Bahamas on Thursday ahead of a possible hurricane hit on the Carolinas, leaving behind at least 61 dead in Haiti.

Hurricane Ike, a more-dangerous Category 4 storm, was advancing from the east.

Hanna was forecast to pass east of the Atlantic archipelago late Thursday before reaching the coast of North or South Carolina by Saturday.

But the National Hurricane Center said Hanna's sprawling bands of outer winds are likely to hit the U.S. far sooner.

Tropical-storm-force winds extended outward as far as 315 miles from the center.

Haitian authorities blamed Hanna for 61 deaths, most from flooding. Civil Protection Department spokesman Abel Na-zaire said 21 of the deaths were in the northern city of Gonaives, which has been almost entirely cut off by floodwaters.

The storm also was blamed for two deaths in Puerto Rico.

Hanna's maximum sustained winds were 65 mph, but forecasters said it could become a hurricane before hitting the U.S.

A hurricane watch was issued for Edisto Beach, S.C., north to the Outer Banks of North Carolina near the Virginia border. Forecasters said Hanna could bring high winds and rain from South Carolina to Maine.

The governors of Virginia and North Carolina declared states of emergency, and officials urged residents to head inland Thursday as Hanna approached. Some residents shuttered houses and stocked up on food and sandbags.

U.N. peacekeepers in Haiti trying to deliver food and water to an increasingly desperate city of Gonaives turned back Thursday because Hanna-related flooding made roads impassable. Soldiers are nervously guarding the gates of their compound, fearing protests over the lack of help.

"If they don't have food, it can be dangerous," warned Sen. Youri Latortue, who flew in by helicopter. "They can't wait."

Dozens of people gathered around the gates of the U.N. base. Some children climbed cinder-block walls topped by barbed wire to ask soldiers inside for food. Edgy U.N. peacekeepers went on a heightened state of alert and have traded their floppy hats for helmets.

Argentine Lt. Sergio Hoj estimated that half of Gonaives' houses remained flooded Thursday. Many houses were torn apart. Families huddled on rooftops, their possessions laid out to dry. Overturned cars were everywhere, and televisions floated in the brown water.

Hanna swirled over Haiti for four days, dumping vast amounts of water, blowing down fruit trees and ruining food as it swamped tin-roofed houses.

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.

U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mari Tolliver said $250,000 in relief supplies arrived in Haiti Thursday, including jugs of drinking water, and would be sent to Gonaives by boat or plane.