More than 100 towns and cities of the main island of Luzon went under water or were isolated by landslides following last week's heavy southwest monsoon rains induced by Typhoon Aere, they said.

The extreme weather killed 24 people, mainly drowning victims or buried by landslides, the civil defense office said. Eight other people are presumed dead after being carried off by rampaging floodwaters last week.

Portions of the main north-south Luzon highway were cut off after the Pampanga and Tarlac rivers burst dikes, while landslides blocked key arteries in the upland Cordillera region of northern Luzon.

Civil defense officials said 1.12 million million people out of the national population of 84 million received relief assistance worth 7.96 million pesos (about 142 million dollars).

Of that number, more than 6,000 lost their homes and sought refuge at government-run evacuation centers.

Although the heavy rains have stopped and floods are receding, Red Cross spokeswoman Tess Usapdin said the affected population would need a week more of food and medical support before things could return to normal.

"The waters are subsiding. Hopefully, there would be no typhoons arriving soon that could induce more monsoon rains," Defense Secretary and civil defense chief Avelino Cruz said over DZBB radio.