By Joseph Guyler Delva
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) -Haiti's death toll from last month's devastating flooding rose to morethan 3,000 on Tuesday, according to government officials who released whatthey believe is the final death tally.

Tropical Storm Jeanne swept north ofHaiti nearly three weeks ago and lashed the Caribbean nation with heavyrains that triggered massive flooding and mudslides and washed away wholevillages.

Haiti's secretary of state for environment,Yves Andre Wainright, said those killed in the flooding numbered 3,006and included 2,826 in the mud-crusted coastal city of Gonaives.

The toll has climbed steadily as rescueworkers reached remote areas and recovered bodies buried in the mud. Wainrightand a government official in Gonaives, Carl Murat Cantave, said those missingsince the floods struck were now presumed dead, and they did not expectthe toll to rise further.

In Geneva on Tuesday, the InternationalFederation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies nearly tripled its aidappeal for Haiti, and said $9.2 million was urgently needed to avert ahumanitarian crisis.

Some 200,000 people in Gonaives losttheir homes, belongings and livelihoods in the hurricane.

Wainright said relief agencies had providedemergency food to 256,000 people in the flood areas. The aid food distributionhas been marred by unruly crowds of hungry people, and by armed gangs thathave looted convoys.

Wainright said relief workers were distributingcards to help them keep track of who had already received emergency rations,to prevent some from double-dipping while others went without.

Another priority would be finding landto build shelters for those left homeless and rebuilding schools, he said.Nearly all the schools in Gonaives were destroyed and those left standingwere being used as shelters.

The Red Cross said there was a seriousrisk of epidemics because latrines and other sanitation facilities hadbeen flooded and many people still lacked access to clean drinking water.

Haiti, which is the poorest country inthe Americas, has a population of about 8 million and is prone to deadlyfloods because 98 percent of its forests have been chopped down, largelyto make charcoal for cooking. In May, about 2,000 people died in floodingin the South of the country.