POINT SALINES, Grenada, Oct 6 (AFP) - US Secretaty of State Colin Powell flew over the Caribbean island state of Grenada on Wednesday to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Ivan and vowed to bring more help to this devastated spice island. The hurricane killed 39 people and destroyed 90 percent of the tiny island's buildings when it blasted across the Caribbean on September 7, causing an estimated 800 million dollars in damage. This island of 90,000 people is heavily dependent on tourism and nutmeg production, which together account for 40 percent of the economy. The United States has given one million dollars in aid to Grenada and pledged an additional 3.6 million, US officials said. The island will receive additional help in a 100-million-dollar emergency aid package that US President George W. Bush has requested from Congress for Caribbean nations hit by a wave of hurricanes this storm season, Powell said. "We'll do everything we can to expedite the flow of that money," Powell said in a news conference at the airport in Point Salines, the island's southernmost point, after surveying the destruction from his plane's cockpit. "There's an urgent need to reconstruct the economy as well as rebuilding houses and rebuilding schools," Powell said, noting that Grenada's schools, homes, farms and power system were hit by the hurricane. Residents are receiving food and water, "but it'll be a continuing challenge," he said. Shelters need to be built for people who remain homeless, the infrastructure needs to be repaired and power needs to be restored, he said. Only one-third of the island has electricity. Grenada's Prime Minister Keith Mitchell said his government's priority is to reopen schools, which remain closed. "After the devastation arrived we've gone through quite a lot in every respect," Mitchell said. He told Powell: "You understood what was happening, you had a good grasp of the problems that we've faced." From an airplane, much of the island appeared still in ruins. Some areas appeared deserted, while some buildings looked as if they had been eaten up by a raging blaze and palm trees stood leafless. "When those roofs went away, there was water damage done in all of these homes, in some cases destroying a family's entire possessions, all that they owned," Powell said. "What makes this situation so difficult for Grenada is that not only was their infrastructure hit -- schools, housing, roads, the power system -- but their means of production and the economic base of the country," he said. The nutmeg industry -- Grenada is world's second producer of the aromatic seed -- was devastated, and it takes five to 10 years for its evergreen trees to regrow, Powell said. "We want to see if there are things we can do to help with that or perhaps diversify the agricultural sector," he said. SOURCE: Politicalgateway.com