DAVAO CITY – Typhoon Odette has been wreaking structures in the northeastern area of Mindanao, hours before its expected landfall on late Thursday.
Early video posts on early afternoon of Thursday from disaster monitoring agencies of the two Surigao and two Agusan provinces showed Odette’s winds plucking roofs from houses and turning waterways into a rampage.
Water levels have already surge in the major rivers in the Caraga Region, the region placed on the red warning
Local monitoring of the typhoon estimated the winds at 165 kilometers per hour to 175 kph. International weather agencies estimated Odette (international name Rai) to be packing winds of 215 kph, making it into a category 4 typhoon, and could still pack a stronger speed of 260 kph on landfall.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office has warned of severe flooding and landslide along its path.
The Surigao del Norte PDRRMO said it evacuated 61,000 individuals earlier.
Typhoon Odette is the second strongest typhoon to hit Mindanao. Typhoon Pablo was the strongest to hit Mindanao in 2012, with its 280 kph winds, making it a Category 5 typhoon. More than 1,500 were dead or missing in its aftermath. Typhoon Sendong, although packing a 95 kph wind wrought a much destructive effect a year earlier, in 2011, with about 2,000 dead or missing in the northern Mindanao areas.
