This photo was taken around 3 p.m. Thursday, December 16, 2021, as Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai) barrels the Philippines. The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office has ordered forced evacuation to all affected residents. Photo by Sam Yap/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) on Friday said it received information that 14 people are now dead due to Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai), which barreled Visayas and Mindanao. But this report is still subject to validation, it added.
In a briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte, OCD Administrator Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad said the 12 fatalities were from Western Visayas (6), Central Visayas, (4), Caraga region (2), Eastern Visayas (1), and Northern Mindanao (1).
Of the six fatalities in Western Visayas, two were from Guimaras, three were from Negros Occidental, and one was from Iloilo. Also, seven people were reportedly missing in Negros Occidental.
In Central Visayas, the fatalities were from Cebu (2) and Lapulapu City (2); in Caraga, the fatalities were from Surigao del Norte; and in Eastern Visayas, the lone casualty was from Southern Leyte. Meanwhile, the death toll from the typhoon in Bukidnon, which is in Northern Mindanao, remains one.
As of Friday afternoon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Odette managed to keep its power while it traverses mainland Palawan.
The latest weather bulletin showed Odette packing maximum sustained winds of 155 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of 215 kph. It is still moving west at 25 kph.
But prior to Odette’s weakening, the typhoon pummeled through Caraga and Northern Mindanao at its peak strength of 195 kph near the center before it started moving westward to Visayas and then Palawan.
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