Victims of floods in the Philippines trudged through ankle-deep sludge to crowded relief centres in search of scarce food and clean water today, as the government strained to distribute supplies, dig out the sprawling capital and prevent looting.The toll from tropical storm Ketsana and the ensuing floods, the south-east Asian country's worst in four decades, climbed to 246 dead, with 38 still missing.Ketsana, which hit the Philippines on Saturday, strengthened further and crashed into central Vietnam today.At least 23 people died - drowned, caught in mudslides or hit by falling trees, officials said. Some 170,000 people were evacuated from the path of the storm."The rivers are rising, and many homes are flooded, and several mountainous districts have been isolated by mudslides," said Nguyen Minh Tuan, a provincial disaster official in Vietnam.
Victims of floods in the Philippines trudged through ankle-deep sludge to crowded relief centres in search of scarce food and clean water today, as the government strained to distribute supplies, dig out the sprawling capital and prevent looting.
The toll from tropical storm Ketsana and the ensuing floods, the south-east Asian country's worst in four decades, climbed to 246 dead, with 38 still missing.
Ketsana, which hit the Philippines on Saturday, strengthened further and crashed into central Vietnam today.At least 23 people died - drowned, caught in mudslides or hit by falling trees, officials said. Some 170,000 people were evacuated from the path of the storm.
"The rivers are rising, and many homes are flooded, and several mountainous districts have been isolated by mudslides," said Nguyen Minh Tuan, a provincial disaster official in Vietnam.
