A powerful storm has triggered landslides and flash floods that have killed as many as 350 people in the eastern Philippines, according to CNN reports Tuesday.

Rescuers are now racing to the region to try to save people stranded in three coastal towns before a new typhoon strikes the same area.

At least 150 people are missing in the eastern Philippines, which is largely cut off by landslides and floodwaters which have washed away bridges and roads, officials say.

Helicopter crews are struggling to find ground solid enough to land on and dropped food packages to residents huddled on rooftops or high ground.

Officials are arranging for a coast guard boat to head for three worst-hit towns in Quezon province to deliver supplies or pick up evacuees.

Adding to the misery, forecasters are predicting a new typhoon circling off the Pacific coast could hit as early as today.

Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was returning early from a regional summit in Laos to visit the storm-ravaged areas on Wednesday.

Arroyo travelled to the same area just last week to console victims of an earlier typhoon and storm.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman returned to Manila late on Tuesday afternoon from an aerial survey of the area and reported that at least 306 people were killed and 150 missing in Quezon province, about 70 kilometers (40 miles) east of Manila.

Elsewhere, 19 were killed in Aurora province, eight in Rizal province, and one each in the Manila suburb of Marikina and Camarines Norte province, the Office of Civil Defense reported.

Other officials reported that three died in Bulacan province north of Manila.

Soliman said bad weather and blocked roads prevented authorities from delivering relief supplies and rescuing people on rooftops.

Air force spokesman Lt. Col. Restituto Padilla said that stricken towns in Quezon were inaccessible after bridges were destroyed when illegally cut logs and uprooted trees slammed into them.

Soliman said officials told residents to stay on the high ground because of continuous rains in the mountains, which could cause more floods and landslides.

She said 114 died in Real town, 100 in Infanta and 92 in General Nakar, all in Quezon. At least 150 were reported missing in Real.

The Philippines is hit with about 20 storms and typhoons a year.

A typhoon and another storm last week killed at least 87 people and left 80 others missing in the eastern region.

Source: Agencies