Death toll, missing in Philippine tropical storm both top 1,000

The death toll from tropical storm Washi (local name Sendong) climbed to 1,100 on Saturday, and the number of people reported missing soared from a dozen to 1,079, according to Philippine official statistics.

The total number of population affected by Washi reached 695, 195 persons in 108,798 families in the country's 13 provinces, said a report released by the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in its 6 a.m. report.

The estimated cost of damages to infrastructure, agriculture and school buildings topped 1 billion pesos (22.94 million U.S. dollars), the report said.

Search and retreval operations are continuing in heavily devastated areas through the concerted efforts of the Philippined armed forces, police and coast guards.