Weather forecasters are predicting more heavy rain later in the week
The Philippines government says 246 people are now known to have died in severe flooding caused when Tropical Storm Ketsana struck on Saturday. The country has appealed for foreign aid to deal with the disaster, which has displaced 450,000 people and left 380,000 living in makeshift shelters. Public buildings including schools, universities and the presidential palace have become relief centres. The storm has now hit Vietnam, where at least 22 people are said to have died.
In pictures: Relief effort Eyewitness: Philippines floods The Vietnamese government earlier ordered the evacuation of more than 170,000 people as strong winds of up to 150km/h (93mph) and heavy rain began to affect the central coast. Local media report that Ketsana, which has now strengthened into a typhoon, has caused flooding and power cuts. Vietnam Airlines has suspended all flights to the coastal cities of Danang and Hue. Weather forecasters are predicting more heavy rain later this week, with a new storm forming in the Pacific likely to enter Philippine waters on Thursday, making landfall on the island of Luzon.
Fragile situation "Evacuees will be given shelter in available areas among the Malacanang [palace] buildings and in tents that will be put up in between the buildings," Philippines President Arroyo said in a statement announcing the opening of the palace compound. She said that if required, palace employees would "yield their work stations to provide more space for our displaced countrymen", and that she had temporarily moved her office to another section of the compound along the Pasig river. FROM BBC WORLD SERVICE Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
More from BBC World Service After word of the offer spread, hundreds of people converged on the palace and received plastic bags filled with noodles and canned sardines. "We just heard it in the news that they are giving relief goods at the palace so we walked for one hour," street sweeper Rosette Serrano, 31, told the AFP news agency. Ms Serrano lost everything except her clothes when her house was submerged on Saturday. But officials said people would not be permitted to remain inside the presidential compound unless they were first checked by aid organisations. "We cannot just allow every evacuee in because of logistical and security problems," Wilfredo Oca, an aid to Mrs Arroyo, told AFP. The sharp rise in the death toll - up 100 from the previous figure - came after more than 90 deaths were recorded in Manila, the National Disaster Co-ordinating Council said in a statement. The toll is expected to rise further as thick mud is cleared from the worst affected parts of the city. Troops, police and volunteers have so far rescued more than 12,000 people. Appeal Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the situation could become worse if aid supplies ran out. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement Earlier, Mr Teodoro appealed for humanitarian assistance from the international community. "We are trying our level best to provide basic necessities, but the potential for a more serious situation is there," he said, in a nationally televised address. "We cannot wait for that to happen." AT THE SCENE Alastair Leithead, BBC News, Manila Half the covered basketball court in Bagong Silangan has been converted into a mortuary; the other half is sleeping space for some of the hundreds of people left homeless by the storm. This little community in Quezon City was hit more badly than most by the flooding. Hundreds of homes by the river were swept away and those which were not destroyed have been swamped by mud. Queues of people spent the day lining up waiting for what little aid there was available in this area to be handed out. In one centre small plastic bags containing just a few clothes were being given and at another, run by a church group, those identified as being most in need were given a few tins of food and bottles of water. More from Alastair Leithead Correspondents say many people have been complaining that aid has been coming too slowly and is not sufficient. President Arroyo said those who had suffered had a right to complain, but asked them to also consider the scale of the disaster. "We're responding to the extent we can to this once-in-a-lifetime typhoon emergency," she said in a statement. The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) is sending food supplies for 180,000 people to the Philippines. WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said the organisation would support the Philippines to ensure a "swift and co-ordinated recovery effort". Rescue workers are continuing to pull bodies from the mud and swollen rivers. But the BBC's Alastair Leithead in Manila says the rescue operation is now focusing on getting supplies to those who have been displaced. Ketsana, with winds of up to 100km/h (62mph), hit the Philippines early on Saturday, crossing the main northern Luzon island before heading out toward the South China Sea. Over the weekend, the government declared a "state of calamity" in Manila and the 25 storm-hit provinces, including many that have not experienced widespread flooding before, allowing access to emergency funds. Officials say more than 40cm (16in) of rain fell on Manila within 12 hours on Saturday, exceeding the 39cm average for the whole month of September.
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Bild:Ketsana 002.jpg|thumb|Betroffen vom Wirbelsturm war auch Metro Manila.
 Der tropische Sturm „Ketsana“ hat auf den Philippinen eine Spur von Tod und Verwüstung hinterlassen. Mindestens 246 Personen verloren durch Erdrutsche und Überschwemmungen ihr Leben, mindestens 38 Menschen wurden am 29. September noch vermisst. Aufgrund der schwersten Überflutungen seit vier Jahrzehnten standen rund 1,9 Millionen Häuser unter Wasser, rund 380.000 Personen wurden in Notunterkünften untergebracht. Mehr als zwölftausend Personen mussten von Einsatzkräften aus einer Notlage gerettet werden.

Der Sturm zog zwar nur mit Windgeschwindigkeiten von 100 km/h über die Luzon hinweg, aber innerhalb von nur zwölf Stunden fiel mit 400 mm Niederschlag mehr Regen als sonst innerhalb eines ganzen Monats. Der bisherige Rekordwert von 330 mm in derselben Periode stammt vom Juni 1967. In 25 Provinzen, darunter auch der Hauptstadt Manila, wurde Katastrophenalarm ausgelöst. Rund 80 Prozent Manilas wurden durch den Starkregen teilweise meterhoch überschwemmt. 

Der Sturm zog westwärts. 

Inzwischen haben die Aufräumungsarbeiten begonnen. Mit Gabelstaplern ließ die Polizei in Marikina, einem Bezirk von Manila, schlammverkrustete Autos beiseite räumen. Viele Betroffenen werfen der philippinischen Regierung und Staatspräsidentin Gloria Arroyo vor, die Regierung sei nicht auf den tropischen Wirbelsturm vorbereitet gewesen und hätte nicht richtig vor den tropischen Regengüssen gewarnt. Auch die Hilfe käme zu langsam. „Wir reagieren bis an die Grenzen dessen, was wir in dieser einmaligen Taifunkatstrophe tun können“, verteidigte Arroyo die Arbeit ihrer Regierung. Das World Food Programme (WFP) hat inzwischen Nahrungsmittel für mehr als 180.000 Menschen auf den Weg gebracht. 

Der Sturm, der auf den Philippinen den lokalen Namen „Ondoy“ erhielt, wanderte über das Südchinesische Meer westwärts und intensivierte sich dabei zum Taifun. Vor dem Erreichen der Küste wurden dort vorsichtshalber rund 170.000 Personen evakuiert. Dennoch verloren durch Erdrutsche und Ertrinken 28 Vietnamesen ihr Leben.

Den Philippinen droht inzwischen neue Gefahr mit weiteren Regenfällen: der Tropische Sturm „Parma“ ist nur noch rund 1300 km von der Inselgruppe entfernt und hat Kurs auf Luzon genommen.