The storm, the fourth deadly super typhoon to hit the country in as many months, brought flooding and landslides to large areas in the north and east of the Philippines overnight on Thursday.
The head of the Philippine Red Cross said at least 146 people were known to have died in the in mudslides on the slopes of Mount Mayon, an active volcano.
In one village, Padang, he said 50 people died and many were listed missing after a torrent of mud and boulders ripped through the area.
Two other villages on the slopes of Mount Mayon were also hit by mudslides.
Rescue officials are having difficulty accessing the area because roads have been washed out by the storm and telephone and power lines have been knocked out.
'Overstretched'
Rescue officials are having difficulty accessing the area because roads have been washed out by the storm and telephone and power lines have been knocked out.
'Overstretched'
 |
| The villages on the slopes of the Mayon volcano were hit by mudslides (file photo) |
The army has been ordered to mobilise its forces and equipment to help with rescue efforts. Glen Rabonza, head of the government's civil defence office, said provincial officials had requested 200 body bags.
"Our rescue teams are overstretched rescuing people on rooftops,'' he said after briefing the Philippine president on the scale of destruction left by the storm.
Durian made landfall on Thursday, battering coastal areas with winds of 250km an hour and gusting over 300km an hour.
Graciano Yumul of the Department of Science and Technology said the storm was particularly damaging because it came ashore on the island of Catanduanes, which has no mountains to break the storm's momentum.
"It really destroyed the island that it hit,'' he said. "That is the reason you are seeing the kind of destruction you are seeing right now."
Manila spared
The storm was initially feared to be on course to pass over Manila, the Philippine capital, a city of some 12 million people.
But it changed course overnight, sparing the city from the worst effects of the storm before it reached into the South China Sea.
In September Typhoon Xangsane left around 200 people dead and missing, with clean-up work still far from finished.
Damage to transport links and crops from Xangsane and other storms this year has already had a noticeable impact on the Philippine economy, slowing third quarter growth figures.
An archipelago of several thousand islands, the Philippines regularly finds itself in the path of typhoons.
The worst in recent memory came in 1991 when floods triggered by Typhoon Thelma killed more than 5,000 people on the island of Leyte.
"Our rescue teams are overstretched rescuing people on rooftops,'' he said after briefing the Philippine president on the scale of destruction left by the storm.
Durian made landfall on Thursday, battering coastal areas with winds of 250km an hour and gusting over 300km an hour.
Graciano Yumul of the Department of Science and Technology said the storm was particularly damaging because it came ashore on the island of Catanduanes, which has no mountains to break the storm's momentum.
"It really destroyed the island that it hit,'' he said. "That is the reason you are seeing the kind of destruction you are seeing right now."
Manila spared
The storm was initially feared to be on course to pass over Manila, the Philippine capital, a city of some 12 million people.
But it changed course overnight, sparing the city from the worst effects of the storm before it reached into the South China Sea.
In September Typhoon Xangsane left around 200 people dead and missing, with clean-up work still far from finished.
Damage to transport links and crops from Xangsane and other storms this year has already had a noticeable impact on the Philippine economy, slowing third quarter growth figures.
An archipelago of several thousand islands, the Philippines regularly finds itself in the path of typhoons.
The worst in recent memory came in 1991 when floods triggered by Typhoon Thelma killed more than 5,000 people on the island of Leyte.
