Situation Overview

On December 14, at 11:00 PM Severe Tropical Storm “RAI” entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) and it was given a local name “Odette” by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). Sixteen hours after entering the country’s jurisdiction, Typhoon Rai, locally known as Odette, wreaked havoc across the disaster-prone Philippines, packing a maximum sustained winds of 195 km/hour and gusts of up to 315 km/hour. Due to its expected strength, the government of Siargao, where it was forecasted to landfall, was anticipating and preparing for the wind up to Signal No. 3. But unexpectedly, Signal No. 4 went on to be declared on Thursday morning, December 16, as Rai quickly intensified a few hours before hitting the ground.

The 15th cyclone has inherent strength of a super typhoon before it hit the terrain of Siargao. As the typhoon came closer and continued to intensify, more than 1 million people were affected in 3,238 barangays and had displaced nearly 400, 000 individuals before it moved toward the South China Sea on December 18. According to the National Disaster Risks Reduction and Management Council, more than 10,000 villages were in the path of typhoon.
The typhoon made a total of 9 destructive landfalls in just 24 hours and has severely affected several communities in the provinces of the Visayas and Mindanao regions. After battering and leaving traces of destruction in the vast portions of these regions, the typhoon moved over the western Palawan province. Palawan is also among the hardest-hit particularly in the municipality of Roxas, where it made its final landfall at around 3:10 pm of December 17. Although the typhoon slightly weakened into 155 km/hour when it reached the province, it did not spare Palawan from destruction as its powerful winds knocked off houses and cut power supply and telecommunication lines.
The aftermath of TY Rai has been very destructive mostly in the provinces of Bohol, Negros Occidental, Iligan City, Cagayan de Oro, and for the most part of CARAGA Region. On December 21, 2021, “State of Calamity” has been declared over six regions in the country (Regions IV-B, VI, VII, VIII, X and XIII).

Several areas in Palawan remain isolated, especially in the northern part, as main roads and bridges were damaged by the typhoon. Several residents of Palawan are now in need of a supply of clean water, food and crude oil after the ravages of powerful TY Rai. They also complain about the dwindling food and water supply and long queues just to get a limited supply. Residents have to endure the long queues in water refilling stations that use generators to get safe drinking water and this is limited to two containers.
The situation in Surigao City was much worse. Four days after TY Rai hit Surigao, the city seems to have gone through war. The intensity of the typhoon spared no one in the city. More than 170,000 individuals are affected by the typhoon and its LGU cannot afford to accommodate everyone affected in the area according to its city mayor. TY Rai has dampened massive amount of rain that triggered widespread flashfloods and mudslides in high risk-areas. Surigao City lost power and communication due to cut-off power lines, while many trees left many roads impassable. Rai’s impact has been considered “widespread”. Dinagat Island, the first to be lashed by the typhoon’s dreadful winds, remained cutoff since Saturday. To date, only a small number of casualties have been reported as the island remains isolated.
Supply of clean water also became a major problem in the province as water lines were damaged. Several houses made of wood were destroyed or lost, especially households near the coast. The province urgently need donations of at least 300 generators sets to run water refilling stations.
In Bohol, with the very limited food and clean water supply and slow relief and recovery efforts, many affected residents were driven by desperation and potential looting is feared to happen. Several residents are pleading for help as emergency response comes rarely. The governor of Bohol said that their contingency fund can no longer secure rice and other food aid due to the excessive number of affected. To date, Bohol remained without power and several communications are still unrestored.
Meanwhile, roofless houses also became a thing in the southern part of Negros Occidental. Clearing operations in Kabankalan City, Sipalay City and Himamaylan City is still ongoing. It aims to expedite the delivery of aid and donations to affected families. A week after TY Odette hit the country, many areas in Visayas and Mindanao region remain cut-off with the storm having toppled power and communication lines, hindering the fast delivery of relief efforts.

Source: Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Inquirer, Government of Bohol, PDRRMO Palawan, Rappler.

Affected Populations

• As of 8:00 AM of December 21, the provincial government of Bohol reported a total 96 fatalities in its 28 towns. Most of the casualties were from the town of Ubay which is in the second district of the province. Meanwhile, 16 individuals are still missing and 100 persons were injured attributed to the typhoon while up to 28, 845 families have fled their homes.

• Preliminary reports indicate that at least 22 persons have been confirmed dead and 16,000 families were displaced from Puerto Princesa City towards the north. At least 31 persons have been reported missing throughout Palawan, of which 26 are from Roxas while two missing individuals each are from Tagburos, Binduyan and Tanabag and one was reported missing in the town of Langogan.

• Death toll in Southern Leyte has risen to at least 21 with 1 person still missing according to the Eastern Visayas Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the 7 confirmed deaths are from the town of Saint Bernard, 4 are from San Juan. Liloan, Sogod and Hinunangan have 2 deaths each while Limasawa, San Ricardo and Maasin City reported one death.

• It is not yet clear how many casualties there are in Surigao as the assessment is still underway. However, an estimated 170,000 individuals are affected by the typhoon in the province according to its governor.

• In National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) report no.9, there were a total of 391,760 persons from MIMAROPA, Region 6,7,8,9,10, BARMM and CARAGA region who were pre-emptively evacuated. Some of the affected populations who fled their homes during the height of the typhoon has already returned their homes, but some evacuees whose house were damaged still remain in the evacuation centers. The number of affected individuals has reached to 1,382,252 in 3,473 barangays.

• As of this writing, 15,618 houses were damaged by the typhoon, of which 13,144 are partially damaged and at least 2,474 were totally ruined by the typhoon.

• In the entire country, NDRRMC reported that 5,401.49 hectares of agriculture were destructed by the typhoon. An estimated cost of damaged has reached the to more than 300 million. TY Rai caused power outages and interruptions in 239 cities and municipalities in the aforementioned affected regions.

• It is expected that more casualty and damage reports will increase in the coming days once the power and communication lines in other affected areas are restored.

Source: National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) , Provincial Government of Bohol, PDRRMO Palawan, Rappler.

Emergency Response Efforts

1. CDRC is closely monitoring Typhoon “ODETTE” since it was spotted by PAGASA and also monitoring the situation in the affected areas and constantly updating situation reports.
2. CDRC is also closely coordinating with its regional centers in affected areas to collect information on the situation and needs on the ground.
3. On December 15, CDRC activated its Emergency Response Team for TY Odette as well as the affected regions of its regional centers. (PCDR, LCDE, CPRS, CRRC, STPRC and DIRECT).
4. CDRC’s Regional Centers are constantly coordinating with their respective LGU partners particularly with the Local DRRM Offices in the affected cities and provinces. Emergency
5. Response Teams of the respective affected regional centers have been monitoring developments in the local situation and continue to send data from the ground.
6. With the rising need for emergency response, CDRC coordinates mechanisms and fundraising
efforts. A call for donation for TY Odette has already been posted in our official Facebook
page.
7. In addition to coordinating between partners and other networks, typhoon-affected regional
centers are currently sending appeals for Emergency Relief Assistance Fund.
8. Regional centers STPRC, LCDE, PCDR and DIRECT has deployed their rapid assessment teams to conduct damages, needs and capacity assessment (DNCA). The gathered assessment data and results are now being used to develop an appeal in able to reach wide range affected communities through direct food assistance, shelter rehabilitation and help their livelihood recover.

Resources Available
Standby emergency funds
1. Prepositioned goods at the CDRC warehouse
2. Monetary and in-kind donations
Expressed Needs
Initial Assessments have indicated immediate needs include;
• Food supplies
• Clean water
• Hygiene kits
• Facemasks
• Primary medicines
• Sleeping materials
• Shelter kit

Recovery assistance and reconstruction efforts are needed to repair damaged infrastructures such as houses, schools, barangay halls, health centers, highways and electrical poles. Continuous efforts to provide support to the agricultural sector are also needed.

Coordination
Regional Center
1 LCDE (Leyte Center for Developmen, Inc .based in Palo,Leyte)
2. PCDR (Panay Center for Disaster Response, Inc. based in Iloilo City)
3. CPRS (Center for People’s Resources and Services, Inc. based in Bacolod City)
4. CRRC (Cebu-Bohol Relief and Rehabilitation Center, Inc.based in Cebu City)
5. DIRECT (Disaster Response Center, Inc. based in Saranggani)
6. STPRC (Southern Tagalog People’s Response Center, Inc. based in Los Banos, Laguna)
Contacts
1. Hanna Fiel, Deputy Executive Director, 0945-8355589, hanna.fiel.cdrc2019@gmail.com
2. Cora Jazmines, Local Partnerships Department, 0928-182-4969, lpd@cdrc-phil.com