Cebu death toll due to Odette reaches 112

CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines — The death toll on Cebu island due to Typhoon Odette reached 112 on Friday, with nine people still missing, according to the data from the police and the local disaster management offices.

Col. Engelbert Soriano, director of the Cebu Police Provincial Office, said at least 79 of these fatalities were from Cebu province.

The Cebu City disaster management office, on the other hand, recorded 17 deaths.

Mandaue City listed seven death while Lapu-Lapu City had nine deaths.

“Fortunately for the Philippine National Police, we do not have any fatality, but we have one injured officer. At least 377 of my personnel are also directly affected by the typhoon,” Soriano said.

At least 27 police stations mostly in the southern towns of Cebu were also damaged, according to the provincial police director.

Initially, he said the national government had already provided 15 generator sets for police stations without electricity.

Two weeks after Typhoon Odette, more towns in Cebu province showed the extent of the devastation from the typhoon.

One of them is Cordova town with more than 8,000 houses damaged on Dec. 16.

The coastal town of Cordova is located in the urbanized Metro Cebu area neighboring Lapu-Lapu and Cebu cities.

While its neighboring cities in the Metro Cebu area are slowly being energized, Cordova remained without electricity while its communication lines were still cut.

Fishing boats and commercial centers in Cordova were also damaged by the typhoon.

Cordova’s Gilutungan Island is also among those badly devastated by the typhoon. Ninety percent of the island’s houses were destroyed.

On Thursday, Dec. 30, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia visited Cordova and brought with her three generator sets to power up essential facilities.

She also brought 10,000 liters of drinking water for the town. She promised to deliver more relief goods to the town.

ATM