Philippines Storm May Be Year's Deadliest

The tropical storm that whipped the southern Philippines this weekend may be 2011's deadliest storm to strike the entire globe.

Tropical storm Washi unleashed mammoth floods across vast areas that left 700-900 people dead and thousands homeless, relief workers said.

About 20,000 soldiers had been mobilized in a huge rescue-and-relief operation across the stricken north coast of the island of Mindanao, where the major ports of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan were worst hit.

Cagayan de Oro city reported 215 dead, and nearby Iligan city lost 144 residents, Philippine National Red Cross secretary-general Gwen Pang told AFP.

Iligan mayor Lawrence Cruz described rampaging floodwaters from swollen rivers that swamped up to a quarter of the land area of the city of 100,000.

"It's the worst flood in the history of our city," Cruz told GMA television. "It happened so fast, at a time when people were fast asleep."

The station showed dramatic pictures of a family escaping out of the window of their home in the town as the floods rose, and rescue workers in orange vests shepherding survivors to safety above chest-deep waters.

President Benigno Aquino expressed concern at the extent of the tragedy and ordered government agencies to map out areas in the country most vulnerable to future flash floods.

"These areas will be at risk every year ... . The first (step in) mitigation has to be relocation from these areas," he said in a meeting with senior civil defense officials.

Benito Ramos, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council told reporters Mindanao residents were warned about the dangers posed by the storm days earlier but elected not to move to safer areas.

He said Mindanao was rarely visited by storms, even as 20 major storms strike the Philippines annually, with most hitting Luzon, the largest and most populous island in the Southeast Asian archipelago.

"We expect huge damage, especially on agriculture," Ramos said.