‘Odette’ death toll rises to 375 — PNP
After various landfalls in the Visayas-Mindanao regions, the death toll of supertyphoon Odette (international name: Rai) has risen to 375, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday.
In its report, PNP spokesperson Colonel Roderick Augustus showed the tally consisting of 170 deaths in Central Visayas, 167 in Caraga Region, 24 in Western Visayas, seven in Northern Mindanao, six in Eastern Visayas, and one in Zamboanga Region.
The data, however, is subject to increase as the ongoing mobilization of police forces in the severely affected region is frequently updated with the validation of reports in each region.
The recorded data is far higher than the one recorded earlier by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), which was 58 deaths.
The PNP also recorded at least 500 injured individuals and 56 missing cases from the regions of Central Visayas: 47, Caraga: eight, and Eastern Visayas: one.
During typhoon Odette’s landfall, December 14 to 17, the regional forces of PNP have been actively monitoring the damages in affected places including Dinagat Islands, Surigao, Bohol, Cebu, Agusan del Norte, Guimaras, Leyte, and Palawan.
Over 280,000 families or 1 million individuals were affected by the super typhoon, with at least 490,000 displaced and 332,000 evacuated, according to NDRRMC.
Currently, 99, 568 people from at most 30,000 families are still staying in evacuation stations nationwide.
Moreover, over 3,178 areas experienced power outages, and 1,898 areas faced communication problems as telecoms were down due to the strong winds of Odette. Such problems resulted in the panicking of the relatives of affected families, as contacts were unachievable on any platform.
As of Monday, Odette has already exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) and is across the West Philippine Sea headed to Hainan, China.
