REFUGEE

A week of relentless rains has put dozens of towns and villages under water [Reuters]

Fresh floods have covered large areas of the northern Philippines after days of heavy rain from the remnants of Typhoon Parma.

The flooding and landslides in the northern part of the main island of Luzon have left around 100 people dead in the past week, officials said on Friday.

Tens of thousands have been evacuated from affected areas and thousands more remain trapped by high waters.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Senator Richard Gordon, the head of the Philippine Red Cross, dozens of provinces had been "totally inundated" by floods.

He said Red Cross boats had evacuated hundreds of families and more boats and relief workers were due to arrive in the region later on Friday.

The flooding was made worse after five dams began releasing excess water on Thursday from rivers and reservoirs that had swelled from the unceasing rain brought by Parma.

Rescue teams have been stretched by two massive storms in quick succession [EPA]

The opening of the dams flooded areas downstream, with dozens of towns and farmlands transformed into vast lakes.

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas, reporting from Manila, said emergency services, which are already struggling to handle the aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana which hit late last month, have now been stretched even further by the fresh flooding.

Typhoon Parma first hit the Philippines last Saturday and has since weakened into a tropical depression but continues to linger around the region.

Rescue officials in the mountainous Benguet province said on Friday that at least 69 people were killed in landslides across five districts.

At least 25 people had been reported killed earlier, the National Disaster Co-ordinating Council (NDCC) said.

Between 60 to 80 per cent 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 and the bad weather hampered rescue efforts.

Rescue calls

Amado Espino, the governor of Pangasinan province, told local radio that rescue teams were having difficulty reaching those stranded because of the strong currents and heavy rain.

Marlyn Premicias, the province's vice-governor, said she started getting frantic text messages from residents late on Thursday asking to be rescued after the San Roque dam released water along the Agno river, inundating 30 out of 46 townships in the coastal province.

In Nueva Ecija province to the east, 23 of 32 towns and cities were hit by floods, local officials said.

Roads were cut off heading north from the capital, Manila, where residents are still trying to pick up the pieces from Typhoon Ketsana.

That storm killed at least 337 people, flooded large areas in and around the capital and forced nearly half a million from their homes last week.

In addition the storm caused millions of dollars of in damage to crops, roads, bridges and schools.