Residents evacuated from flooded Philippines areas

At least 13 people died and five others were missing in flash floods and landslides set off by torrential rains that swamped a southern Philippine province overnight, officials said Friday. Five people were missing in Datu Blah Sinsuat, according to the town's mayor.

The unusually heavy rains that flooded several towns in Maguindanao and outlying provinces overnight in mountainous regions with marshy plains were caused by Tropical Storm Nalgae, which was expected to hit the country's eastern coast from the Pacific Ocean on Saturday morning, according to forecasters.

Floodwaters rapidly rose in many low-lying villages, forcing some villagers to climb onto their roofs, where they were rescued by army troops, police and volunteers, officials said. About 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippines each year. It's located in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a region along most of the Pacific Ocean rim where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur, making the Southeast Asian archipelago one of the world's most disaster-prone areas.