Officials in the Philippines say more than 1,000 people died in last week's massive flooding in the southern part of the country, and they expect the number to keep rising.

The head of the Office of Civil Defense said on Wednesday that rescuers have recovered 1,002 bodies and that many are still missing.

A tropical storm swept through the southern part of the Philippines Friday evening, dropping a month's worth of rain in 24 hours and causing severe flash floods.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino went to the typhoon-ravaged areas on Tuesday, declaring a state of calamity as workers continued to pull bodies from landslides and bury them in mass graves.

Mr. Aquino visited the devastated Mindanao island port cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, and met with local officials to plan further relief operations. He also helped deliver relief goods to stricken survivors.

The civil defense office says some seven thousand houses were swept away, destroyed or damaged.

Survivors are now facing food and water shortages in overcrowded, makeshift evacuation centers on the island of Mindanao. Almost 50,000 people who lost their homes remain in public shelters.