At least 20 people were killed, 36 others injured and seven more went missing as hurricane Tomas tore through Haiti since Friday, Haitian Civil Protection Direction said on Monday.

Hatians walk along a flooded road in Leogane, 33 kms south of Port-au-Prince. Health officials and aid groups have been worried that the flooding may exacerbate a cholera epidemic in the northern part of the country, with the disease contracted in part after people drank infected river water.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)


The emergency agency said it has evacuated 36,755 people, of which 31,731 were still staying at 120 temporary shelters, according to information reaching here from Port-au-Prince, the Haiti capital.


Tomas' winds and rains also destroyed 885 houses and damaged at least 5,000 houses, affecting almost 6,000 families.

Meanwhile, 30 percent of the temporary shelters, where the victims of the earthquake of Jan. 22 live, were destroyed by Tomas.


The authorities said that at least 3,000 tents have to be replaced.


The Haitian authorities also said that they need some 18 million U.S. dollars to fix the damages caused by Tomas, which flooded many localities of this impoverish country already affected by the earthquake and cholera epidemic.


VietNamNet/Xinhuanet