MANILA, Philippines, rescuers are trying to deliver food and water to hundreds of stranded villagers because of flooding in the northern Philippines, where back-to-back typhoons have left at least 59 people dead.
Seven towns north of Manila are still flooded, including Calumpit in rice-growing Bulacan province, where hundreds of residents remained trapped on rooftops in four villages for the fourth day.
In the last four months, prolonged monsoon flooding, typhoons and storms across Southeast Asia, China, Japan and South Asia have left more than 600 people dead or missing. In India alone, the damage is estimated to be worth $1 billion.
The damage on agriculture and infrastructure from the earlier typhoon in the Philippines was estimated at $200 million. Rice and vegetables can only be obtained from the country's south in case of supply shortfalls due to damaged farms and blocked roads in the north.
