Over 18k residents evacuated in Eastern Samar amid Odette threat

More than 18,000 residents were preemptively evacuated in Guiuan, Eastern Samar due to the threat of Typhoon Odette.

According to Nikko Sereno's report on "24 Oras" on Thursday, flash floods were reported in several parts of Guiuan.

Meanwhile, the local government made sure that minimum health standards would be observed in all evacuation centers to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 2 was raised by PAGASA over Eastern Samar.

In its 8 p.m. severe weather bulletin, PAGASA said the center of the eye of Odette was located over the coastal waters of Pres. Carlos P. Garcia, Bohol, with maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 255 kph.

It is moving westward at 30 kph.

PAGASA said Odette made its sixth landfall in Bien Unido, Bohol at 7:30 p.m.

Odette (international name: Rai) was labeled by the Hawaii-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center of the United States Navy and Air Force as a super typhoon. — Ma. Angelica Garcia/VBL, GMA News