Typhoon Odette, International Name 'Rai,' wreaks havoc over Vis-Min region
On December
14th of 2021, PAGASA announced that a severe tropical storm with an
international name “Rai” has entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility
(PAR) and was named “Odette”. At around 10pm that time, the center of severe
tropical storm Odette was estimated based on all available data at 890 km East
of Mindanao. Odette has an intensity of maximum sustained winds of 100 km/h
near the center, gustiness of up to 125 km/h and central pressure of 985 hPa.
Its present movement upon detection was heading West Northwestward with a speed
of 15 km/h passing Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, over the coastal waters
of San Juan in Southern Leyte, Nueva Valencia in Guimaras, and Araceli in
Palawan. The typhoon was so severe that the southeastern portion of Eastern
Samar and some parts of Mindanao (Dinagat, Eastern portion of Surigao del
Norte, Siargao, Bucas Grande Islands and the northern portion of Surigao del
Sur) was announced to be Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1 also known by many
as Signal No. 1.
In just about 2 days after entering PAR, Typhoon
Odette intensifies further and has made a landfall over Siargao Island, Surigao
del Norte on December 16, 2021. Several flood advisories was posted and
Southern Leyte and some parts of Mindanao (Dinagat Islands, northern portion of
Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Norte and northern portion of Surigao del Sur)
was already in TCWS 3 or Signal no. 3. Videos and some clips were seen on
social media about the damages this typhoon has made. On the same day when
Odette made a landfall in Siargao, it continues to maintain its intensity while
heading over Liloan, Southern Leyte. By then, Southern Leyte, eastern portion
of Bohol, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte including Siargao and Bucas Grande
Islands were announced to be in Signal No. 4.
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| Aerial view of Negros Occidental After Typhoon Odette taken from: whereinbacolod.com |
A lot has happened after the landfall of Typhoon
Odette but the good thing about severe tropical typhoons is that the higher the
signal is the shorter its duration. As it traversed the northern portion of
Bohol, it slightly weakens at around 8:00 pm on the same day Odette made a
landfall in Siargao. Odette then further weakens and makes a landfall in the
vicinity of Carcar, Cebu. This then made the central and southern portions of
Cebu to be under Signal No. 4.
On December 17th of 2021, Typhoon Odette
was over the Panay Gulf and passes over the Sulu Sea between Cuyo and Cagayancillo
Islands affecting the Negros region and Guimaras. Typhoon Odette continues to move
westward at 25 km/h and headed to West Philippine Sea.
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| Damage caused by Typhoon Odette courtesy of gmanetwork.com |
By now, the latest forecast on Typhoon Odette is that it continues to intensify again while heading to West Philippine Sea and all Tropical Cyclone Wind Signals were removed. MIMAROPA, Northern Mindanao, Caraga and Western, Central and Eastern Visayas were placed under state of calamity. As of December 20, 2021, the Philippine National Police recorded at least 375 deaths due to the typhoon.
Despite the havoc caused by the typhoon, LGUs and NGOs
provide reliefs to the areas affected by the typhoon. Lives, properties, hopes
and dreams were taken in just a week but it also made us stronger and stand
together.
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