Philippine president declares national calamity after storm

Death toll climbs in Philippines

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(CNN) -- President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines declared a state of national calamity on Tuesday after visiting areas in the south of the country that were devastated by a tropical storm over the weekend.

The death toll continued to rise from Tropical Storm Washi, which has left tens of thousands of people homeless as aid agencies struggle to deal with a growing humanitarian crisis.

Aquino made the declaration in a speech broadcast on national radio after surveying the destruction in the port cities Iligan and Cagayan de Oro on the island of Mindanao, where the vast majority of the dead were found.

Figures released by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council put the death toll at 957 early Tuesday.

 Map: Southern Philippines hard-hit

Map: Southern Philippines hard-hit

The Philippine Red Cross reported a lower death toll, at 713.

Survivors in the area recounted brushes with death as flooding from the storm struck in the middle of the night. Now, they're trying to piece their lives back together.

"We escaped just in time," said Rona Magto, a high school teacher and mother of two from Iligan City. "Those behind us were already flooded and cars were afloat. There was water everywhere and the current was so strong."

Rona and her family survived, but others, including her best friend, Remy Rubio, are missing.

Rona has since returned home and started to clean up in an effort to make her home habitable again. But outside her window, she says, she sees emptiness. The area in front of her still looks like a river and behind her, posts are left where there used to be houses.

Tropical Storm Washi has affected more than 338,415 people, the disaster council said. About 88,000 people are being served at evacuation centers, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement Monday expressing "deep condolences for the tremendous loss of life and devastation."

He said the United States "stands ready to assist the Philippine people and government should humanitarian assistance and recovery efforts be needed."

The Red Cross said hundreds of people remained unaccounted for after entire villages were swept away. The government has actually lost count of the number of people missing, said Benito Ramos, head of the disaster council.

At least 400 people are missing in Iligan City alone, according to the Department of Interior and Local Government.

Military and disaster officials said many people were swept away as they were sleeping. Water-logged bodies from washed-away villages floated at the shoreline on the northwestern coast of Mindanao island.

Five people were killed in a landslide, but virtually all the others died in flash flooding after Tropical Storm Washi, which is called Sendong locally.

Survivors in the hardest-hit areas are contending with no electricity or clean drinking water.

Flash flooding overnight Friday, following 10 hours of rain, fueled the devastation. As much as 20 centimeters (8 inches) of rain fell within 24 hours in some areas. December generally brings about 60 millimeters of rain (a little over 2 inches) to the region, CNN Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri reported.

Journalist Sunshine de Leon contributed to this report.

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