A view of the area shows houses buried under mud after a landslide in Baybay town, Philippines. AFP

Gulf Today Report

Rescuers hampered by mud and rain searched on Tuesday for survivors of landslides that smashed into villages in the central Philippines, as the death toll from tropical storm Megi rose to 42.

Twenty-two villagers died in landslides in four villages in Baybay city in central Leyte province on Sunday and Monday, city police chief Lt. Col. Joemen Collado said. At least six other people were reported missing in the landslides and a search was underway, he said.

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More than 17,000 people fled their homes as the storm pummelled the disaster-prone region in recent days, flooding houses, severing roads and knocking out power.

Three other storm-related deaths were reported by the government’s main disaster-response agency in the southern provinces of Davao de Oro and Davao Oriental.

A man is carried after being rescued from a landslide at Baybay City, Leyte province, Philippines, on Monday. AP

"In one village, a landslide occurred and other victims, unfortunately, were also swept away by the surge of water,” Collado told the DZBB radio network. "There were at least six missing but there could be more.”

Photos showed the rooftops of several homes in Bunga, one of the Leyte communities affected, poking above a river of mud.

Rescue efforts were focused on the nearby village of Kantagnos, which an official said had been hit by two landslides.

Some residents managed to escape or were pulled out of the mud alive, but many are still feared trapped.

Five people have been confirmed dead in Kantagnos, but it is not clear how many are still missing.

This photo shows a landslide area at Baybay City, Leyte province, central Philippines, on Monday. AP

Nearly 200 floods were reported in different areas in central and southern provinces over the weekend, displacing about 30,000 families, some of which were moved to emergency shelters, officials said.

Coast guard, police and firefighters rescued some villagers in flooded communities, including some who were trapped on their roofs. In central Cebu city, schools and work were suspended Monday and Mayor Michael Rama declared a state of calamity to allow the rapid release of emergency funds.

At least 20 storms and typhoons batter the Philippines each year, mostly during the rainy season that begins around June. Some storms have hit even during the scorching summer months in recent years.