REAL, Philippines, Dec. 3 -- Helicopters delivered food to survivors and picked up the sick and injured on Friday as flash floods began to recede in the northern Philippines. More than 650 people were killed and nearly 400 are missing in the disaster, which was triggered by back-to-back storms.
Soldiers who reached an isolated Pacific Ocean village in Aurora province reported finding about 30 people dead.
A man weeps as villagers retrieve his son's body after storm-driven floods in Real. In addition to the storm, a typhoon struck the northern Philippines.
(Reuters Photo)
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In Real, the worst-hit town, in nearby Quezon province, television images showed bodies buried under mud and debris, with only the soles of their feet visible. Survivors described the stench of rotting flesh.
The mayor of Real, Arsenio Ramallosa, said there was little damage from the typhoon that struck Thursday, but that the tropical storm that blew through Monday had left scores of dead and missing.
About 170,000 have fled their homes for higher ground. Health authorities urged local officials to bury the dead quickly to avoid disease.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appealed to the nation to "come together" and "reach out to those who need help."
In a televised statement, she said, "We need one great heave to deliver the relief supplies, find the missing, rescue the isolated, feed the hungry and shelter the homeless."
The brunt of the devastation was wrought by Monday's storm, which killed at least 527 people in northeastern provinces, Gen. Efren Abu, the military chief of staff, said Friday.
Hardest hit was Quezon province, where 484 bodies had been recovered and 352 people were still missing, he said.
Typhoon Nanmadol followed the storm, striking the region late Thursday.
About 100 people were found dead in the coastal village of Dumingan, about 60 miles northeast of Manila, Maj. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, the regional military commander, told ABS-CBN TV. It was unclear whether they had been killed by Monday's storm or the typhoon.
"Our soldiers now are helping the populace to recover the survivors and bury the dead," Tolentino said. He added that landslides were blocking the road to the village.
The Catholic relief organization Caritas International appealed for $200,000 for emergency relief for families hurt by the storms.
The appeal would provide relief for 3,000 families in need of food, medicine and clothing and financial assistance.
"We have been severely devastated," Ramallosa said. "Our food supply is dwindling and good for only another three days."
