GONAIVES, Haiti – Tropical Storm Jeanne brought raging floodwaters to Haiti, killing at least 90 people in the battered nation and leaving dozens of Haitian families huddled on rooftops as the storm pushed further out into the open seas yesterday, officials said.

Floods tore through the northwestern coastal town of Gonaives and surrounding areas, covering crops and turning roads into rivers. American backed interim Prime Minister Latortue and his interior minister toured the area in a U.N. truck yesterday, but were not able to reach many areas because of washed out roads.

“We don’t know how many dead there are,” Mr. Latortue said.”2004 has been a terrible year.”

Workers with the Catholic humanitarian agency Caritas Internationalis picked up 62 bodies in pickup trucks and counted another 18 at a morgue in Gonaives alone, said Reverend Venel Suffrard, the organization’s local director. Mr. Suffrard said he expected the toll to rise.

The floods killed another 10 people in other parts of the country, mostly in the northwest, said Dieufort Deslorges, a spokesman for the Haitian Ministry of Interior.

A World Health Organization worker said he had toured parts of downtown Gonaives and saw people pushing wooden carts filled with cadavers. “There is no life left in the center of town,” U.N. health worker Pierre Adam said.

The deaths came four months after floods killed more than 3,000 people on the Haitian-Dominican border. In February, a three-week rebellion ousted President Aristide and left about 300 dead.

Several others were reported missing and feared dead. Unlike the Dominican Republic, much of Haiti is deforested and unable to hold back floodwaters.

“We don’t know how many dead there are,” Mr. Latortue said. “2004 has been a terrible year.”

The prime minister also declared the city a disaster area and called on the international community to provide immediate humanitarian aid.

The deaths from Tropical Storm Jeanne come four months after torrential rains and floods killed more than 3,000 people along the Haitian-Dominican border. Six months ago rebels ousted President Aristide, which left hundreds of people dead and led to the arrival of more than 3,000 U.N. peacekeepers.

Peacekeepers from Argentina, who are responsible for patrolling the region around Gonaives, bandaged three Haitians with minor injuries. Their base was flooded except for a helicopter landing zone on higher ground.

The erratic storm lashed Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Friday and Saturday, drenching northern Hispaniola and triggering flash floods. The storm has been blamed for at least 10 other deaths. Seven died in neighboring Dominican Republic and three in Puerto Rico, including a man whose body was found yesterday floating in a river near the northwestern town of Moca.

Much of Gonaives was still under waist-deep water yesterday, and aid workers were having trouble evacuating all the people in need, said Dieufort Deslorges, a spokesman for the Haitian Ministry of Interior.

Jeanne lost strength even as it drove thousands of Dominicans from their homes late Friday. But a few hours after being downgraded to a tropical depression, it strengthened again on Saturday into a tropical storm with lashing winds.

The storm stalled over the Dominican after coming ashore Thursday as a hurricane, with winds near 80 mph. It had raged through Puerto Rico on Wednesday, dumping up to 2 feet of rain, flooding hundreds of homes, and downing power lines. President Bush declared the American territory of Puerto Rico a disaster zone on Friday, two days after Jeanne tore through the island.