TROPICAL storm Hanna has claimed at least 26 lives in Haiti, a toll officials fear will climb during the search for survivors in the debris from damaged and destroyed homes.

Officials said thousands of people here were left homeless or with damaged dwellings following the storm.

Meanwhile, the neighbouring Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, evacuated more than 7500, but suffered no loss of life, officials said.

Among the hardest hit areas was Gonaives, a city of of 300,000 north of Port-au-Prince, which was left totally submerged after being drenched by Hanna's torrential rains.

"The situation in Gonaives is extremely urgent. I appeal for help," said the city's mayor Stephen Moise.