Confirmed Odette fatalities now at 63 —NDRRMC

The confirmed fatalities due to Typhoon Odette has climbed from 59 on Tuesday to 63 on Wednesday, according to the latest report by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

The NDRRMC also confirmed that 12 people were missing and 74 were injured due to the typhoon, which lashed many areas in Mindanao and the Visayas on December 17.

Meanwhile, the NDRRMC is still verifying 334 more reported deaths, 71 missing, and 1,073 injured.

A total of 397 people were reported dead, 83 were reported missing, and 1,147 were reported injured due to Odette.

Most of the fatalities were due to drowning while some died after getting hit by uprooted trees, trapped under debris of collapsed infrastructures, and getting buried by landslides.

A total of 4,176,567 people or 1,073,538 families were affected by the typhoon in around 6,000 barangays. At least 305,229 were displaced from their homes, some of them now staying in 1,201 evacuation centers.

The most affected areas were Palawan, Negros Occidental, Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Southern Leyte, Leyte, Dinagat Islands, and Surigao del Norte, the NDRRMC said.

At least 531,128 houses were damaged — 358,834 partially and 172,294 totally. A total of P16,715,334,982 worth of damage in infrastructure and P5,517,549,728 in agriculture were also reported.

Power supply has been restored to 161 of 284 cities and municipalities that encountered power service interruption as a result of the typhoon.

Water supply has been restored in only one of the 18 cities and municipalities that reported water supply interruption. Meanwhile, communication lines are now back in 115 of 371 cities and municipalities experiencing signal problems.

Only five of the seven airports in the affected areas have returned to operations. Of the 25 suspended domestic flights, eight have already resumed.

A total of 129 seaports went non-operational due to the typhoon, of which 76 are already functioning. At least 1,353 passengers, 697 rolling cargoes, and four vessels were stranded.

At least 370 classes and 305 work schedules were suspended.

According to the NDRRMC, 334 cities and municipalities were placed under state of calamity due to the impact of Odette. —KBK, GMA News