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.