QUEZON PROVINCE, Nov 30: More than 300 people died after flash floods and landslides devastated three coastal towns and left swathes of the northern Philippines under water on Tuesday.

The death toll was expected to rise as rescuers were unable to reach areas cut off by huge mudslides and fast-moving floodwater in the wake of tropical depression Winnie and as the country braced for another powerful storm.

At least 306 people died in the towns of Real, Infanta and General Nakar in Quezon province, about 80km east of Manila, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman told television.

Soliman said 150 people were still missing in Real, where witnesses said a torrent of logs and mud had swept down from the Sierra Madre mountains during Monday night's downpour.

Rampant illegal logging has been blamed for leaving towns vulnerable to landslides, a factor in several disasters in recent years. "We think that illegal logging can be one of the main reasons why floods affected those towns," said Jayjay Suarez, vice governor of Quezon province.

"The critically wounded had fractured legs, with pieces of wood piercing their legs. Some had lacerations on their bodies," he said. A spokesman for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said she would return early from a summit of Southeast Asian nations in Laos on Tuesday night to help coordinate the rescue operations.

The floods came just a week after storms left about 160 dead or missing, stretching the country's poorly equipped rescue services and military. "A new typhoon is headed in our direction," Defence Secretary Avelino Cruz told reporters, referring to tropical storm Nanmadol. "This one is much stronger and has a wider coverage than the one that hit Quezon province." -Reuters