Philippines rushes relief to flooded areas

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Philippines rushes relief to flooded areas

566 people dead, 546 missing after series of storms

REAL, Philippines - Scores of exhausted residents crowded onto ferries Monday to escape villages ravaged by flash floods and landslides while Philippine officials sought international help to rebuild after back-to-back storms left at least 566 people dead and more than 500 missing.

The storm and typhoon that struck late Monday and Thursday respectively set off flash floods and landslides, destroying hundreds of houses, farms, roads and bridges. Damaged infrastructure hampered rescue and relief efforts in remote villages, officials said.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman appealed for international help in “rebuilding water systems, toilets, livelihood in agriculture for people whose farmlands were buried in mud.”

Official figures released earlier said 640 people had died in the storms, but the latest tally lowered the figure to 566.