MANILA, Oct 9 (Reuters) - High water released from dams after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides in the northern part of the main Philipine island of Luzon, with officials on Friday saying 94 people had died in the past week. The rains were brought by Typhoon Parma, which first hit the Philippines last Saturday and has since hovered around the region since, although it has weakened into a tropical depression. Rescue officials in mountainous Benguet province said on Friday at least 69 people were killed in landslides in five districts. At least 25 people had been reported killed earlier, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said. The unceasing rain has swelled rivers and reservoirs in the region and five dams began releasing water on Thursday, flooding areas downstream. Television pictures showed towns and farmlands transformed into vast lakes, dotted with trees and buildings. Between 60 to 80 percent of the coastal province of Pangasinan has been flooded and 30,000 people evacuated, said Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres at the NDCC. Thousands of people spent the night on rooftops or sought refuge on higher ground. "We have difficulty in trying to reach and rescue people in flooded areas because of the strong currents and because of the rains," provincial Governor Amado Espino told local radio. In Nueva Ecija province to the east, 23 of 32 towns and cities have been hit by floods, Governor Aurelio Umali said. Roads from Manila to the north were cut off. The U.S. Navy has sent a relief ship to the bay off Pangasinan to help, but bad weather grounded planes and helicopters. Relief officials estimated total damage so far at nearly 2 billion pesos ($43 million), including 1.6 billion pesos in lost crops. The floods struck after a previous storm inundated large parts of areas in and around the capital Manila. That storm, called Ketsana, killed at least 337 people, the NDCC said. Nearly half a million were forced from their homes by Ketsana. About 7.63 billion pesos in crops were damaged, mostly rice about to be harvested, forcing authorities to consider more rice imports this year. About 2.7 billion pesos in infrastructure - roads, bridges and schools - were also damaged, disaster officials said. (Reporting by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Ron Popeski)
Members from a charitable organisation distribute food in the flood-affected village of Repalle in Guntur district, about 420 km (261 miles) from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad October 8, 2009. ...
