MANILA, October 9, 2009 (AFP) - US forces bringing aid to flooded areas around the Philippine capital were deploying troops to the northern Philippines on Friday to help people devastated by a second storm, officials said.

At least four heavy-lift helicopters along with 18 teams of water-borne rescue units are moving north to help Filipino forces with rescue efforts in the Ilocos and Cordillera regions on the north of the main island of Luzon, the Philippine military said.

The Japan-based dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry is bringing two of the aircraft along with other rescue equipment to the area, Philippine military chief General Victor Ibrado announced on local television.

US embassy spokesmen did not return calls for comment.

US forces have been helping Filipino troops bring emergency relief as well as conducting medical missions and clearing rubble from floods caused by

Tropical Storm Ketsana, which killed 337 people in and around Manila and displaced more than four million on September 26.

The Philippines' National Disaster Coordinating Council spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Ernesto Torres told reporters the US government had "pledged or offered the use of its resources in the northern Luzon area".

He said the Americans had offered helicopters along with 18 water craft.

"Based on the agreement last night, they will start the deployment of their personnel this morning," Torres added.