Flood waters receded in the northern Philippines today in the wake of a typhoon, but thousands of people remain cut off from help and at risk of disease after a week of severe flooding.
At least eight people died when Typhoon Nanmadol battered the main northern island of Luzon, adding to a toll of more than 1,000 dead or missing after floods and landslides this week, disaster officials said.
Nonetheless, casualties from the typhoon appeared to be lower because people were better prepared after three major storms in two weeks.
"We need one great heave to deliver the relief supplies, find the missing, rescue the isolated, feed the hungry and shelter the homeless," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in a statement on national television.
Some areas were still without power after 13 transmission towers in Bicol province east of Manila were toppled by winds.
The health secretary warned of the growing risk of disease, urging people to bury their dead quickly. "Our biggest enemy now is diarrhoea, especially in areas where water and food are contaminated," Mr Manuel Dayrit told radio.
Nanmadol had moved into the South China Sea and was heading toward Taiwan, but its wind speeds had fallen to 75 mph from 115 mph when it first hit the Philippines.