Massive floods and landslides in Philippines Northern Luzon have killed around 160 people and practically cut off the entire region from the rest of the Philippines, officials reported on Friday. The latest calamity brought the death toll to more than 450 from the Philippines' worst flooding in 40 years after back-to-back storms started pounding the country's north on Sept. 26. The landslides blocked major roads going to Northern Luzon preventing outside help from reaching the calamity-hit provinces. Forecasters said Tropical Depression Parma was still lingering off the northeastern coast and dumped rain overnight. The government's disaster relief agency said it had requested that the US Embassy redeploy hundreds of American troops from the massive cleanup in and around the capital, Manila, to the flood-hit areas in the north. Two US Navy ships were positioning in the Lingayen Gulf in Pangasinan to provide helicopters and rubber boats for the rescue mission in the province, said US Marine Capt. Jorge Escatell.
