Edition.cnn.com (excerpts):  New death toll will continue to rise as more bodies are retrieved, a Filipino officials says.  The Philippine government said Tuesday that fresh rain in Visayas and Mindanao could set off flash floods and landslides, bringing the potential for more misery in places already struggling to recover from a tropical storm that has killed more than 1,400.  The forecast was released on the same day that the government said the death toll from the tropical storm that lashed the southern Philippines more than a week ago has increased to 1,453 from 1,249 a day before.  "Numbers will continue to rise, unfortunately, as we continue to retrieve more bodies," Benito Ramos head of NDRRMC said Tuesday.  The bodies of people swept out to sea by flash floods from the storm have washed up on nearby beaches and islands, Maj. Reynaldo Balido, the military assistant for operations at the office of Civil Defense said Monday.  The authorities have enlisted the help of local fishermen to help the continuing search and rescue efforts for the scores of people who remain missing, Balido said by telephone from the island Mindanao, the scene of the worst devastation.  He added that the fishermen volunteered, since many of them had lost friends and relatives in the disaster.  The unusually heavy rains of tropical storm Washi, which churned across the southern Philippines between December 16 and 18, resulted in landslides and flash floods that swept away whole villages.  The authorities have to carry out mass burials in order to deal with the large numbers of dead.  "I've gone through so many disasters, but this one is the worst, as some of the survivors have lost so many family members," said Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross.  "Some have lost as many as 30 relatives," he said in comments posted recently on the organization's website.  The number of people injured as a result of the storm has more than doubled to 4,594 from 1,979 at the weekend, according to the NDRRMC, putting more pressure on already stretched relief agencies.  The United Nations said last week that the storm has created "huge" humanitarian needs in the region.  It has made an appeal to raise 28 million to deal with the immediate problems, with tens of thousands of people displaced in and around the port cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.  Many people are lacking food, shelter, and clean drinking water, the United Nations said.  The storm, known locally as Sendong, has affected more than 700,000 people in the region, the NDRRMC estimated Tuesday.  President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines has declared a state of national calamity following the storm.  

Commentary:  Another massively fatal, record-breaking storm.  Much of the same has happened here in the US during the last year, as well as China, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico and other areas.  The frequency of these deadly storms in such a relatively short period of time is what is so unique, as compared to other storms throughout history.  The Bible tells us that there will be such devastating storms in the last days, "Behold, the Lord has a strong and mighty tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, which will be cast down to the earth with His hand" Isaiah 28:2.  "You will be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, earthquake, great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire" Isaiah 29:6.  The nations have also suffered record-breaking fires in the last two years, which the Word of God also tells us will happen.  The world is "languishing," as described in Hosea 4:3, before the great day of the coming of the Lord.  These are warning signs to repent, if you have not done so already, and be prepared for the return of the Lord.  As Christians, we are not afraid.  We know that the Lord will take care of us, but we need to pray as we read these news reports, that people will be saved, who do not know the Lord, and that God will take care of His people through the devastation.  The Lord is coming soon.  If you aren't ready, please visit the How Can I Be Saved page of this website.  God bless you.