400 dead, many more missing after floods and storms in Philippines

More than 400 people are dead after storms and floods battered the Philippines. And there are fears that the death toll could top 1,000, with many people still missing in the wake of some of the worst weather to hit the country since records began.

As well as the dead and the missing, there are an estimated 10,000 displaced persons at risk of disease as rising flood waters cause sewers to overflow. Search and rescue operations are underway, but authorities in the country admit that they are overwhelmed.

The death toll is believed to have been worsened by the fact that the bad weather struck overnight. Walls of water demolished houses in the Mindanao region, leaving whole families dead. Survivors have spoken of seeing bodies washed past them.