MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Rescuers stepped up their efforts in the northern Philippines on Sunday as the skies started to clear a day after a tropical storm tore through and left more than 70 people killed or missing in the worst flooding in more than four decades.

The government declared a "state of calamity" in metropolitan Manila and 25 storm-hit provinces, allowing officials to utilize emergency funds for relief and rescue, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said. Army troops, police and civilian volunteers have rescued more than 4,000 people.

Tropical Storm Ketsana roared across the northern Philippines near Manila on Saturday, dumping more than a month’s worth of rain in just 12 hours. The resulting landslides and flooding have left at least 51 people dead and 21 others missing, Teodoro said.

Distress calls and e-mails from thousands of residents in metropolitan Manila and their worried relatives flooded TV and radio stations overnight. Ketsana swamped entire towns, set off landslides and shut down Manila’s airport for several hours.

Military chief Gen. Victor Ibrado, accompanied by journalists, flew over several suburban Manila towns Sunday on board air force helicopters and saw many people still waiting to be rescued on roofs of their houses in flooded villages.