Confirmed deaths due to ‘Odette’ rise to 75

MANILA – The number of confirmed deaths due to Typhoon Odette has climbed to 75, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported on Friday.

In its New Year’s Eve update, the NDRRMC also confirmed that 74 were injured and 12 went missing due to the typhoon.

Eight of the confirmed dead were from Mimaropa, 46 from Western Visayas, two from Central Visayas, 15 from Eastern Visayas, and four from Northern Mindanao.

Still undergoing validation are reports of 330 deaths, 1,073 injured, and 70 missing.

“Odette”-affected families were placed at 1,139,148, which is equivalent to 4,457,846 persons residing in 6,526 barangays in Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, the Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, the Davao Region, Soccsksargen, Caraga, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Meanwhile, 1,325 evacuation centers are sheltering and aiding 83,960 families while 45,268 more families are being assisted outside evacuation centers, with the remainder being helped by relatives and friends.

The NDRRMC also reported that 165 areas in Mimaropa, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Caraga, and BARMM continue to experience communication outages while communication lines in 79 areas have been restored as of this posting.

Power supply has been restored in 205 cities and municipalities out of the 284 earlier reported experiencing electrical outages.

As this developed, the Philippine Army sent 21 truckloads of relief goods to the Visayas and Mindanao on December 30.

It also transported 21 truckloads of essential supplies worth PHP6.5 million to Southern Leyte and Surigao del Norte. The 47-ton shipment consisted of bottled water, food items, canned goods, foams, mattresses, portable water purifier packs, electric generators, and other essential supplies.

On December 29, troops loaded 14 truckloads of relief goods worth PHP5 million onto the Cebu-bound BRP Tarlac of the Philippine Navy.

The Army was also able to consolidate essential supplies from corporate and individual donors worth PHP12 million to date.

Major donors include Landers Superstore, property developer Deca Homes, Lucio Tan Group, Food Panda Philippines, Stone of Hope Builders and Development Corp., Lucio Tan Group of Companies, Aboitiz Group of Companies, Jaime V. Ongpin Foundation, Inc., Lions’ Club, students of the International School Manila, and other private donors.