Philippines (AP):

Victims of floods in the Philippines trudged through ankle-deep sludge to crowded relief centres in search of scarce food and clean water yesterday, as the government strained to distribute supplies, dig out the sprawling capital from under the mud and prevent looting.

The toll from Tropical Storm Ketsana and the ensuing floods is the southeast Asian country's worst in four decades, climbed to 246 dead, with 38 still missing.

Ketsana, which wreaked havoc in the Philippines on Saturday, strengthened further and crashed into central Vietnam yesterday, killing at least 23 people who drowned, were caught in mudslides or hit by falling trees, officials said. Some 170,000 people were evacuated from the path of the storm.

"The rivers are rising, and many homes are flooded, and several mountainous districts have been isolated by mudslides," said Nguyen Minh Tuan, a provincial disaster official in Vietnam.

More bad weather

The storm weakened as it moved inland and approached Laos, but river levels were still rising, and more rains are forecast for the region today. More bad weather may be headed for the Philippines, too, forecasters said, prompting the Government to consider evacuating some regions where people have only just started returning.

Victims clutching bags of belongings lined up for hours at relief centres for bottled water, boiled eggs and packets of instant noodles. Large parts of the cluster of suburban municipalities that make the greater Manila area were affected by the storm, but flooding was worst around the Pasig River that cuts through it, including wealthy suburbs and shanty towns.

Presidential aide, Hermogenes Esperon, said up to 500 victims would be given blankets and other supplies and allowed to stay in the palace grounds, after they had undergone security checks, starting with about 50 people effective last night.

Tropical Storm Parma

Even as the Government strug-gles to respond to Ketsana, it is also trying to prepare for another storm. Tropical Storm Parma was about 800 miles (1,280 kilometres) southeast of the Philippines yesterday and heading slowly towards it, bringing the threat of more heavy rain, Nilo Frisco of the Government weather agency said.

"There is sense of extreme urgency that we prepare," National Disaster Coordinating Council chairman, Gilberto Teodoro, told reporters.

The US government had pledged US$100,000 for the relief efforts, and navy personnel were helping with search and rescue, the Foreign Affairs Department said yesterday. China, Japan, Singapore and Australia have also pledged extra aid, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sent a message that help would come from the world body, too.