MANILA, December 29 ------ Nineteen more people were reported to have died from Typhoon Odette, raising the tally to 397, the state disaster response agency said Tuesday. The number of typhoon-related injuries also climbed to 1,147, according to an updated toll from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Some 83 people are reported missing.
Odette, the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, displaced over 561,000 people. More than 300,000 people remain in evacuation camps, with more than 200,000 others sheltering in the homes of relatives or friends. According to the latest NDRRMC bulletin, some 341,000 houses were damaged while 167,000 others were destroyed, with an estimated cost of P28 million. Damage to infrastructure was estimated at P16.7 billion while losses to crops, livestock, poultry and agricultural equipment was pegged at P5.3 billion.
Odette, with international name Rai, struck the southern and central part of the country on Dec. 16 and 17, toppling power lines and trees and unleashing deadly floods. Civil defense officials said more than 4 million people were receiving typhoon aid in 430 cities and towns. Some survivors have likened Odette to Super Typhoon Yolanda, which left 7,300 people dead or missing across the central Philippines in 2013 and remains the country's deadliest on record. The archipelago gets hit by an average of 20 cyclones each year.
As the government rushed to bring food, water and clothing to devastated areas, a new threat appeared in recent days with at least 140 people falling ill from suspected contaminated water. Eighty people were taken ill with acute gastroenteritis in the southern province of Dinagat Islands, while 54 people are being treated for diarrhea in hospital on the neighboring tourist island of Siargao, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
Meanwhile, Cebu City reported 16 diarrhea cases, she told reporters. "We all know these areas suffered water interruption. Some areas still have tap water but pipes have been damaged and so there is a possibility of contamination," Vergeire said. Vergeire said the typhoon also spoiled more than 4,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines and damaged 141 hospitals and clinics, only 30 of which have resumed full operations.
Source: news.abs-cbn.com
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