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PADANG, Philippines (AP) -- Typhoon Alley took its toll again.
Major storms have battered the Philippines time and again this year. Typhoon Durian was the fourth "super" typhoon in four months to hit the country, swamping the Mayon volcano with so much wind and rain that ash and boulders cascaded down its slopes in walls of black mud that swamped entire villages Thursday.
Doomed by geography and hobbled by poverty, the Philippines has long tried to minimize the damage caused by the 20 or so typhoons that hit the sprawling archipelago every year. Despite a combination of preparation and mitigation measures, high death tolls and destruction persist.
The Philippines' location in the northwestern Pacific puts it right in the pathway of the world's No. 1 typhoon generator, according to meteorologists.
"We are often the first to experience typhoons before they go to China, Taiwan and Japan," said Thelma Cinco, senior weather specialist of the Philippine weather bureau.
Durian punched the Bicol region -- which has gained a reputation as the welcome mat for the most destructive cyclones -- with gusts of up to 265 kph (165 mph) that blew away roofs, toppled trees, power and communication lines and sent tons of rocks and volcanic ash down the slopes of Mayon, the region's most famous landmark.
Nationwide in 2001-05, 2,892 people were killed and 909 others went missing in typhoons and other storms, which caused damage totaling 26.05 billion pesos (US$521 million; euro395 million), the National Disaster Coordinating Council says.
During the past century, bad weather has cost the country about 15 billion pesos (US$300 million; euro227 million) a year just in infrastructure, said Anthony Golez, the council's deputy chief, noting that the estimate doesn't include losses to employment and other economic opportunities.
But how can Filipinos deal with typhoons?
"The country would need a big umbrella," Golez quipped. "Figuratively, that umbrella is the knowledge that we should instill in our people -- knowing about disaster preparedness."
He said Filipinos should be "bombarded" with disaster information, including stories of the Indian Ocean tsunami two years ago and the February 2006 landslide in the central Philippine village of Guinsaugon that killed more than 1,000.
"They have to get scared, or else," he said. "We have to give them the reality, and it's a sad reality. We have to tell them the truth."
But work should go beyond preparedness, Golez said. Too many people live close to danger zones like mountainsides or riverbanks, he said.
"They are pushed there because they do not have any choice. If you develop their economy, then they would have more options," he said.
Sen. Richard Gordon, who heads the Philippine National Red Cross, said better planning is needed.
"We have to break the cycle of disaster and poverty by being smarter, by being sure we can plan our community smarter," he said. "The big problem here in our country is we don't plan our communities. It's every man for himself."
He said the government has money for disaster mitigation but that politicians look to building projects that last only long enough for people to remember them during election campaigns.
Mayor Jessie Robredo of Naga city in Camarines Sur, a province in Bicol often hit by typhoons, said his people are used to the yearly storms and began bracing for Durian a week before it arrived. The result was "zero casualty" this time, he said.
But he laments that emergency funds, used to help his constituents get back on their feet after every typhoon, could be used for economic projects.
"We would have been more progressive, more productive," he said. "The worst part of a typhoon is that instead of using our funds for livelihood, we use them for relief to help people rebuild their lives. Instead of building infrastructures, we repair buildings." The cycle seems unlikely to break soon. But Robredo said life goes on in Typhoon Alley.
"The people of Naga are very resilient," he said. "Typhoons are like a way of life, a part of life. We do not like them, but our attitude is that there is still another day and we will rise again."
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Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a state of national calamity Sunday in the wake of Typhoon Durian, allowing the government to more rapidly release funds needed to bolster search and rescue efforts. Relief efforts in the Philippines faced delays Sunday for survivors, as fears grew of a rising death toll in the archipelago nation from last week's storm.

Red Cross officials recorded a death toll of at least 406, with 398 others missing and another 489 as injured, based on figures provided by mayors of devastated towns in the eastern Philippines, where Durian hit with 139 mph winds and torrential rains on Thursday.

Canada pledged $870,000 and the Netherlands Red Cross pledged $53,000 to help the country deal with the aftermath of the storm that triggered massive flooding and volcanic mudslides. The United States also promised an undetermined amount of aid. 

Many provinces lost power, making communication virtually impossible. In one of the worst hit provinces, Albay, two villages were buried by volcanic mudslides and volunteers were working to recover bodies from the wreckage.

According to the Red Cross, rescue boats were used to survey the damage and take people to the 305 evacuation centers. The Red Cross estimated about 66,616 people were now homeless based upon the number of homes destroyed in the wake of Durian.

Earlier, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said 38,473 displaced people were in evacuation shelters.

===Often hit by storms===
The Philippines' location in the northwestern Pacific puts it right in the pathway of the world's top typhoon generator, according to meteorologists. Durian is the fourth devastating typhoon to strike the Philippines in the past four months, covering the Mayon volcano with so much wind and rain that ash and boulders cascaded down its slopes in walls of black mud that swamped entire villages Thursday.

Hemmed in by geography and poverty, the Philippines has tried to minimize the damage caused by the 20 or so typhoons that hit the sprawling archipelago every year. Nationwide in 2001-05, 2,892 people were killed and 909 others went missing in typhoons and other storms, which caused damage totaling US$521 million, says the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

Anthony Golez, the council's deputy chief, notes that the estimate doesn't include losses to employment and other economic opportunities, and that Filipinos should be "bombarded" with disaster information, including stories of the Indian Ocean tsunami two years ago and the February 2006 landslide in the central Philippine village of Guinsaugon that killed more than 1,000.

Senator Richard Gordon, who heads the Philippine National Red Cross, said better planning is needed. "The big problem here in our country is we don't plan our communities. It's every man for himself."