UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- United Nations humanitarian agencies appealed for 59 million US dollars on Friday to help Haiti and Grenada cope with the damage caused by deadly hurricanesand tropical storms in recent weeks.

    UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egelandtold reporters that Haiti needs almost 32 million dollars and Grenada requires 27 million dollars, just to cover the next six months. So far only 5 million dollars has been received for each country.

    In Haiti, more than 1,500 people have been killed and at least 900 others are missing after tropical storm Jeanne brought floods and mudslides to the north of the country two weeks ago. In Grenada, government estimates said dozens were dead and 90 percentof homes were damaged or destroyed when hurricane Ivan struck on Sept. 7.

    An unusually high number of hurricanes have lashed the Caribbean this season, bringing casualties and causing damage fromthe United States to Trinidad and Tobago.

    Egeland said the impact on Haiti and Grenada, however, was so much worse that "many of the other hurricane-affected societies ofthe Caribbean have begged us to concentrate on Grenada and Haiti, saying that they will try to cope on their own."

    UN agencies said more than 12 million dollars of the Haiti appeal has been designated for food and health care, while establishing and maintaining clean water and sanitation services is expected to cost almost 5 million dollars. Funds will also be spent on education, agriculture and on trying to kick-start the country's fragile economy.

    In Grenada, the focus is more on helping to rebuild the thousands of shattered homes and buildings -- almost 9 million dollars is needed for shelter there. Enditem