ODETTE IMPACT | Death toll rises to 211 as government rushes recovery before Christmas

December 20, 2021 , 08:18 PM

By Manny Mogato, News5 editor-at-large

(December 20, 2021) – The death toll from a powerful typhoon that slammed into the country’s belly last week has risen to 211 as the government began massive efforts to restore power, water and communications in large areas in the Visayas and northern Mindanao.

A Philippine National Police (PNP) report said 129 people died in the central Visayas region, most of them on Bohol island where Typhoon Odette made landfall twice on Thursday.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said many areas remained without electricity and communications. Roads remained blocked by toppled trees and electric posts, delaying delivery of relief goods to affected populations.
“We are still assessing the damage but it is huge as per initial report: entire communities leveled to the ground, no electricity, water and food,” said Lorenzana.

“The first thing we are doing is addressing the food and water and medical care of the injured. I have directed the AFP to deploy all available assets — ships, boats, aircraft, trucks – to bring relief goods to the stricken areas. I have also directed the AFP to deploy more troops if necessary.”

The Navy has repurposed the presidential yacht into a 10-bed hospital to service communities in northern Mindanao. The government has released P2 billion to feed and help affected populations.

The government has not made an appeal to the international community for help. The United Nations Office for the Coordination on Humanitarian Assistance already sent a letter, offering technical expertise and other help.

“We have yet to open for foreigh help because the government can, by its own, sustain the responses or even the rehabilitation efforts of these areas affected by Odette,” Casiano Monilla of the Office of Civil Defense told an online press briefing.

In the same press briefing, NDRRMC spokesman Mark Timbal said some countries and foreign organizations have actually offered assistance and “we welcome these declarations coming from our allies.” He added: “As of now, we can manage, government resources are being (used) to attend to the needs of our people.

In a Facebook post, Bohol Governor Arthur Yap said 94 people died in the province and 30 died in nearby Cebu.

The police said 41 died in Caraga region, which was in the direct path of Odette, a category 5 typhoon with sustained center winds of 195 kph when it slammed Siargao island.

The police said 24 died in Western Visayas, 10 in northern Mindanao, six in Eastern Visayas and one in the Zamboanga peninsula.

At least 52 people remained missing – 43 in Central Visayas, eight in Caraga and one in Eastern Visayas – and 239 were injured – 118 in Caraga, 103 in Central Visayas, 15 in Eastern Visayas, and three in Northern Mindanao.

The police casualty count of 129 in Central Visayas did not match the 133 figure announced by Yap and Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.

But the disaster agency only reported 58 deaths – 31 in Cebu, eight in Bohol, five each in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, four in Agusan del Sur, three in Misamis Oriental and one each Misamis Occidental and Butuan City.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council said 18 are missing and 199 were injured.

It said 997,665 individuals were affected in Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Caraga, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Of the number, 442,424 were displaced and are either staying inside 2,435 evacuation centers or with their relatives.

It said about 2,803 houses and 16 infrastructures were damaged. The cost of damage to infrastructure was placed at P235 million while damage to agriculture was so far pegged at P118 million.

It said at least 12 cities and municipalities in the Caraga region have declared a state of calamity.

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