MANILA, Philippines?The United Nations and other international agencies on Wednesday revised and increased their flash appeal to support humanitarian efforts in typhoon-ravaged Philippines from the initial $74 million in early October to nearly $144 million this month.

The latest assessments by UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) show that some 4.2 million Filipinos are in still in need of humanitarian assistance, including more than 520,000 children below five years old.

In a news release posted on its website, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the series of storms that hit the country last month displaced many and severely affected agricultural production.

?Of particular concern for humanitarian agencies are the estimated 1.7 million people still displaced or living in areas that remain flooded,? OCHA said.

?These areas are likely to remain flooded for another three or four months, putting those affected at serious risk of disease outbreaks,? it added.

The appeal for increased assistance came after the UN noted that only $26 million has been received so far out of the $74-million initial appeal.

This, it said, severely affected relief efforts in the areas affected by the typhoons.

In the lakeshore community of Muntinlupa, alone, the UN said that elderly women continued to queue for relief items.

Nearly 1,000 people died and 40,000 homes were destroyed as a result of the disasters brought by storm Ondoy (Ketsana) and typhoons Pepeng (Parma) and Santi (Mirinae).

The cyclones have severely affected the planting season in northern Luzon, the main agricultural region in the Philippines. Preliminary assessments by the Department of Agriculture and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that between 100,000 and 120,000 farming households, or half a million people, lost all of their production and assets.

Aid agencies have been reporting that funding shortfalls have limited their ability to follow through with humanitarian action plans designed to support life-saving projects and to launch early recovery efforts.

The World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have revised estimates of emergency and early recovery needs, taking into account new assessment data, and additional needs.

Among the key concerns for aid agencies remain access to safe water, sanitation facilities and hygiene items in the relocation camps and in residential areas affected by floods.

The WFP said it was particularly concerned about the impact of the typhoons on young children, and was making preparations to start a supplementary feeding programme with the assistance of national nutrition authorities.

An assessment mission comprising representatives of WFP, the UN Children?s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Health Organization (WHO), government departments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), has inspected some of the hardest hit areas.