Death toll from tropical storm in Philippines rising

The death toll from the tropical storm within the southern Philippines has reached a lot more than 900, the official using the country's disaster agency said Monday.

Benito Ramos from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said the toll stood at 927.

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The Philippines Red Cross reported a lower death toll, at 713.

Tropical Storm Washi affected more than 167,000 people, the council said inside a report Monday. About 88,000 everyone was being served at evacuation centers.

President Beningo Aquino intends to go to the region Tuesday.

U.S. The president issued a statement Monday expressing "deep condolences for that tremendous loss of life and devastation."

He explained america "stands ready to assist the Philippine people and government should humanitarian assistance and recovery efforts be needed."

The Red Cross noted that hundreds are missing after entire villages were swept away. The stench of death permeated the environment as aid workers scrambled to help survivors.

Military and disaster officials said most the dead were found within the port cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, most of them swept away because they were sleeping. Water-logged bodies from washed-away villages floated in the shoreline on the northwestern coast of Mindanao island.

Five people were killed in a landslide, but almost all others died in flash flooding after Tropical Storm Washi, which is sometimes called Sendong locally.

Survivors in the hardest-hit areas are contending with no electricity or clean drinking water. One woman in Cagayan de Oro collected murky brown floodwater inside a bucket, just meters away from where a destroyed vehicle was submerged.

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Flash flooding overnight Friday, following 10 hours of rain, fueled the devastation. As much as 20 centimeters (8 inches) of rain fell within 24 hours in certain areas. December generally brings about 60 millimeters of rain (a little over 2 inches) towards the region, CNN Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri reported.