'Odette' death toll now at 378
MANILA, Philippines — The death toll in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Odette (international name Rai) now stands at 378, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Sunday.
In the latest situation report sent to media, the NDRRMC said that 60 remained missing while 742 people were listed as injured after Odette passed over the northern parts of Mindanao and southern Visayas, and Palawan.
Of the 378 recorded deaths, 218 remain unidentified as of this post. Only 54 casualties have been confirmed while 324 are still up for verification.
The report added that exactly 3,952,880 individuals or 1,012,997 families were affected by Odette as 546,100 displaced persons remained in 1,198 evacuation centers around the country.
The number of evacuation centers being used was previously 1,204 on Saturday, though the NDRRMC clarified that the numbers were still subject to change.
"It's possible that the evacuees started going home, they've been released from evacuation centers because the weather started to improve in those areas," NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Timbal also said in an interview aired over dzMM TeleRadyo earlier.
Most of the reported deaths come from Central Visayas, particularly in Cebu and Bohol, Timbal said.
The NDRRMC added that Odette caused almost P16.7 billion in infrastructure damages, while agriculture losses amounted to P3.9 billion. Damaged houses also tallied an estimated cost of P29.2 million.
Thus far, the national government's agencies have pooled a total of P107 million in aid, per NDRRMC computations.
Earlier Sunday, the Philippine National Police said it was awaiting directives from national government agencies on its role in assisting cash aid distribution efforts for survivors of Odette.
— Franco Luna
PAGASA says severe tropical storm Rai entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility at around 7 p.m. Tuesday. It was assigned the local name Odette.
Telco giant Globe has completed network service repairs in municipalities of Anda, Dauis, Loon and Panglao in Bohol, San Fernando in Cebu, and Baybay, Albuera in Leyte, and Limasawa in Southern Leyte.
Services in Mindanao's Tagana-an, Surigao del Norte have also been restored as of January 4.
Globe says it has equipped local government units affected by Super Typhoon Odette with an M360 platform, used to send SMS updates to their offices and constituencies. "Palawan, Southern Leyte, and Cebu municipalities Naga, Cordova and the city of Mandaue, were among the first to avail of this free service," the telco says in a release.
Network coverage has been restored in 98% of areas with PLDT and Smart coverage in Bacolod.
The telco group says in a release that network services have been restored in 90% of Visayas cities and municipalities affected by Super Typhoon Odette.
Earlier, PLDT-Smart reported the full restoration of services in Antique, Iloilo, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar and Western Samar.
The Technical Education and Skils Development Authority in the Cordillera is sending 19 trainers to Bohol, one of the provinces that was hit hard by Super Typhoon Odette last December.
The trainers will help in the recovery and rebuilding efforts in the province by giving skills training to Boholanons.
TESDA Cordillera, along with the TESDA in the Ilocos region, will be giving free training, particularly on construction-related courses. The training will help in the rebuilding homes and other structures destroyed by the strongest typhoon that visited the country since Super Typhoon Yolanda.
The trainers are from the Provincial Training Centers of TESDA Kalinga, TESDA Mountain Province, TESDA Abra, TESDA Apayao, and TESDA Ifugao. There are four trainers for Electrical Installation and Maintenance, nine trainers for Carpentry, and six trainers for Masonry. — The STAR/Artemio Dumlao
The Department of the Interior and Local Government and other regional goverment offices in SOCCSKSARGEN has sent relief supplies for typhoon-stricken areas in the Caraga Region.
The supplies were transported in a 24-vehicle convoy that included dump trucks.
The humanitarian mission is a joint initiative of the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Regional Task Force on COVID-19.
The convoy on Tuesday follows an initial shipment of relief supplies to the Caraga Region that the DILG regional office initiated.
The provisions — clothings, food rations and hygiene kits — were received by DILG personnel in the Caraga region. — The STAR/John Unson
Total agriculture damage from Typhoon Odette is at P5.79 billion and counting, Agriculture Secretary William Dar says.
More than 70,000 hectares of agricultural land were affected.
Meanwhile, more than 506,000 houses were damaged by the super typhoon and may reach up to 600,000, Housing Secretary Eduardo del Rosario says.
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