Siargao Island is reported to be "isolated" from communication systems after it was hit hard on Thursday by Typhoon Odette, according to the administrator of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad told DZRH on Friday that they are monitoring the situation in Surigao City and Siargao Island, where the typhoon first made landfall on Thursday afternoon.
"Ating cino-coordinate yung pagsagawa ng aerial assessment ng Armed Forces of the Philippines manggagaling diyan sa Davao," Jalad said.
(We are coordinating an aerial assessment by the Armed Forces of the Philippines coming from Davao.)
"Hopefully, maisakay natin yung very small aperture terminal o VSAT diyan sa Butuan City para magkaroon tayo ng communication with Siargao," he added.
(Hopefully, we can get the very small aperture terminal or VSAT on board and to Butuan City to establish communication with Siargao.)
In other typhoon-hit provinces, the undersecretary said they are coordinating with other regional directors to determine the extent of damages and if there are casualties reported due to Odette.
"Mula sa ibang ahensya ng gobyerno diyan sa Cebu, nakita rin natin through their Viber messages na may mga damages but wala namang pumapasok na balita about any casualty hopefully," Jalad said.
(From other agencies in the Cebu government, we saw fromtheir Viber messages that there were damages but no reports of casualty hopefully.)
"Landslide, wala po tayong natanggap na balita. But baha, galing mismo kay Governor [Arthur] Yap ng Bohol … merong pagbaha dun sa Loboc Municipality," he added.
(We have not received news about landslides. But floods, coming from Governor Arthur Yap of Bohol … there was flood in Loboc Municipality.)
In terms of damages, the OCD administrator said they have yet to come up with such figures because the local government units and other national agencies have yet to carry out their own damage assessment.
Currently, however, the OCD remains in contact with their regional offices in provinces hit hard by the typhoon to gather more information about their different situations.
Typhoon Odette made eight separate landfalls since it arrived in the country, starting with:
December 16:
- (01:30PM) Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte
- (03:10PM) Cagdianao, Dinagat Islands
- (04:50PM) Liloan, Southern Leyte
- (05:40PM) Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte
- (06:30PM) President Carlos P. Garcia, Bohol
- (07:30PM) Bien Unido, Bohol
- (10:00PM) Carcar, Cebu
December 17:
- (12:00AM) La Libertad, Negros Oriental
