Six months on, storm sends Haitians fleeing from camp

A storm ripped through tents and sent solar-powered streetlights crashing down at Haiti's main camp for people left homeless by the January earthquake.

The damage, six months to the day after the disaster, sent terrified residents fleeing for any cover they could find. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

About 5,000 people live at the camp on the desert plain of Corail-Cesselesse, 15 miles north of the capital Port-au-Prince. They moved there in April because of fears of flooding in tent homes at a golf-course camp managed by actor Sean Penn.

But their new location is a flood plain as well. Torrents of water knocked over at least 94 tents and plunged the camp into darkness, said Georgia McPeak of the American Refugee Committee.

Aid groups said the move was hasty and poorly planned. The land has no trees and is backed by barren mountains, suggesting flood danger. It is also far from food markets and potential jobs. More permanent shelters were promised but have not been built.

"People are not going to tolerate this situation any more," said a young man calling himself Alphonse. "We came here and they told us that in three months we will be relocated. Six months have passed and we are still here."

Yesterday was the six-month anniversary of the earthquake, which killed up to 300,000 people and left 1.6 million homeless.