( CNN ) -- A ship carrying U.N. relief supplies , including food and water , arrived Friday in the hurricane-ravaged Haitian city of Gonaives , an official with the United Nations ' World Food Programme said . The ship sailed from the capital , Port-au-Prince , carrying 19 tons of high-energy biscuits , 50,000 bottles of water , water purification tablets and other supplies , Myrta Kaulard said . An ambulance , two trucks , a four-wheel drive vehicle and a small speedboat to be used in rescues were also aboard the ship , she said . `` Distributions are ongoing at present , '' she said , speaking by phone from the capital . `` We are also airlifting biscuits now to Gonaives . '' Haiti , the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere , has endured three storms -- Hanna , Gustav and Fay -- over the past month . The last storm , Hanna , killed at least 137 people when it passed Tuesday over Gonaives and lingered nearby for days . It left water more than 4 meters deep in some places in the city , according to Abel Nazaire , Haiti 's assistant coordinator of Risk and Disaster Management . Watch as flooding overwhelms Haitians » . Much of the water remained Friday in Gonaives , and the city was unreachable by car or truck , as roads were flooded and bridges had collapsed , Kaulard said . `` We need to send food and water and primary needs , '' said Jean-Pierre Gueatou , executive director of the Haitian Red Cross . `` The other things , they will come later . '' People trudged through city streets that were covered in murky brown water thigh-deep and higher in some places . Some residents camped out on their roofs , their clothing and blankets hung over the sides of buildings . `` Drinking water is the biggest problem , '' said Joel Trimble , co-founder of Haiti for Christ Ministries . `` That water that everybody 's been wading in -- now for days -- is contaminated with dead carcasses of animals , and cadavers of people . '' `` We remember the last time this happened , '' a man told The Associated Press , according to the agency 's translation . `` It was the same situation . A lot of aid money was given for nothing . They did nothing with that money . If that money had been invested in this town , we would not be in this situation today . '' `` People really have lost a lot of things , '' Kaulard said . `` They are asking for clothes , they are asking for water , they are asking for food . `` The situation is very tense , people are exhausted . '' Kaulard said World Food Programme officials hope to send another ship laden with similar supplies on Saturday , before Hurricane Ike , a Category 3 storm in the central Atlantic , approaches . Ike is predicted to sweep more than 100 miles north of Hispaniola -- the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic . `` We really hope that the current trajectory ... is maintained , '' Kaulard said . On Friday , the U.S. Coast Guard delivered enough hygiene kits , plastic sheeting and water jugs for 2,000 people in Gonaives , according to the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince . With those supplies , and others expected to arrive Saturday in Gonaives on a U.S. Coast Guard cutter , the United States expects to help about 10,000 people , the embassy said . In addition , the USS Kearsarge is expected to arrive Monday in Haiti from Colombia to support relief efforts , the embassy said , though it noted that Hurricane Ike could delay its arrival . U.S. ambassadors in Jamaica and Haiti have authorized $ 100,000 in emergency relief for each country , and the United States is providing $ 50,000 worth for the Dominican Republic , said State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood in Washington . The United States offered to send humanitarian relief and a disaster assistance team to Cuba , but has received no response from the Cuban government , the State Department said . `` The situation in Gonaives is catastrophic , '' Daniel Rouzier , Haiti chairman of Food for the Poor , wrote in an e-mail , according to the AP . `` We , just like the rest of the victims ... have limited mobility . You ca n't float a boat , drive a truck or fly anything to the victims . '' CNN 's Charley Keyes contributed to this report .
International aid will struggle to reach thousands after Tropical Storm Ivan . Hurricane Ike also could hit Haiti this weekend . Poorest country in the Western Hemisphere has been hit by three storms in a month . Drinking water in Haiti is contaminated by bodies , Haitian government says .