Toll in Philippine floods tops 1,000

Toll in Philippine floods tops 1,000

Erik de Castro
Reuters/Real, Philippines

More than 1,000 people have been killed or are missing after
mudslides and flash floods devastated three coastal towns in the
Philippines, a military spokesman said on Thursday.

Residents of towns hit by floods have now fled to higher
ground to escape an approaching powerful typhoon whipping them
with rain and wind and threatening more destruction.

"Based on reports from our troops in the field, they have
listed 479 dead and 560 missing in three towns in Quezon
province," said military spokesman Lt. Col. Buenaventura Pascual.

Typhoon Nanmadol had gained strength and was expected to make
landfall close to the worst flood-affected areas on the eastern
coast late on Thursday, packing winds of 185 kph and on course to
sweep through the main northern island of Luzon.

With flying conditions treacherous and roads cut off, disaster
officials said they could do little to protect thousands of
people made homeless by this week's floods and who were running
short of food and drinking water.

"We are very concerned and we are not sure how we can avoid
further casualties in these areas," Social Welfare Secretary
Corazon Soliman told Reuters.

"If you go on the slopes, the ground is very loose. If you go
on (lower) ground, the water can rise and you might have
mudslides."

Airlines canceled several domestic and international flights
and thousands were stranded at ports after ferries halted
services. Schools, government offices and Manila's foreign
exchange market closed early.

Officials say at least 421 people have died and nearly 200 are
missing after landslides and floods hit several areas of Luzon on
Monday.

Illegal logging was blamed for exacerbating the disaster in
which three coastal towns were devastated by a torrent of mud and
logs in the wake of heavy rains.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council said 37,400
families, or 168,000 people, had been affected.

The agriculture department said this week's storm and two
others that hit the northern and central Philippines last month
had caused an estimated 830 million pesos (US$14.7 million) in
damage to crops, livestock and fisheries.

Soliman said the government, deep in debt and struggling to
cut its budget deficit, would have to spend 90 percent of the 1
billion pesos it sets aside annually for disaster relief.

Hundreds of people from the town of Real, where more than 100
people died, trudged through deep mud to try to reach higher
ground before the typhoon hit.

Swathes of Real and two nearby towns, mostly inhabited by
fishermen and farmers, were buried under chocolate-colored mud.

"We are very scared, that's why we are walking again to a
higher area," said Lolita Serrano, 53, from the coastal area in
Quezon province east of Manila.

"We haven't eaten in two days and haven't received anything
from the government."

The government said it could not cope alone with the disaster
and appealed for international assistance.

Japan said it would provide 15 million pesos worth of aid in
the form of tents, generators, water tanks and other items. The
U.S. Embassy announced it would give $100,000 to the Philippine
Red Cross to provide assistance to flood victims.

Elma Aldea, an official at the National Disaster Coordinating
Council (NDCC), said the U.S. military had promised to provide
engineers to help to clear roads and build bridges.

"There is no potable water in these areas and we are afraid
there will be an epidemic," she said.

Lt. Col. Restituto Padilla told Reuters that air force pilots
had seen dozens of bodies floating in swollen rivers or buried in
waist-deep mud.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered a nationwide
crackdown on Wednesday on illegal logging, blamed for several
landslide disasters in recent years.

But many were skeptical, given that previous crackdowns had
failed to stamp out the practice, which experts say is worth
millions of dollars a year to smugglers and corrupt politicians.

"The problem is that after the public weeping and gnashing of
teeth, everyone goes back to sleep," the Philippine Daily
Inquirer said in an editorial.