Death toll climbs as more floods threaten the Philippines

Heavy rains pummelled the entire Philippines on Saturday, threatening to aggravate flooding that has prompted the government to declare a state of “national calamity”.

The death toll after a week of devastating weather has risen to 35, according to confirmed reports from national and local disaster monitoring agencies.

A tropical depression that has weakened into a low pressure area brought rains to the central Visayas islands and Mindanao, the main southern island, according to the government weather station.

READ MORE: Thousands evacuated as 185km/h Typhoon Melor slams into central Philippines

Cold monsoon winds blowing from the northeast brought rains to Luzon, the main northern island, where large farming communities have been submerged in mostly waist-deep floods from Typhoon Melor, which hit at the start of the week.

Areas inundated by Melor have barely recovered from floods brought by Typhoon Koppu in October.

“Almost the entire Philippines is experiencing rains. More floods are possible,” state weather forecaster Robert Badrina said. “We expect the rains to peak today. The weather will start to improve tomorrow.”