The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) announced Saturday, Jan. 8, that it has removed four fatalities that were earlier included in the death toll for typhoon “Odette.”
From 407, the fatality count went down to 403 as local DRRM offices continued the validation of the reported casualties, the NDRRMC information office told reporters.
The NDRRMC said four fatalities from St. Bernard, Southern Leyte actually died of “natural causes” and not because of Odette.
These include a 60-year-old man who died of heart attack and a 68-year-old woman who suffered from stroke.
There was also a 92-year-old woman who died of hypertensive heart disease; and a 78-year-old man who perished due to “bronchial asthma in acute exacerbation.”
Meanwhile, out of the 403 reported deaths in the aftermath of “Odette,” the NDRRMC has validated 77 cases.
Local DRRM offices were still verifying the identities and circumstances that led to the death of 326 other individuals.
Typhoon Odette, which hit the country on Dec. 16, 2021, is regarded as the most destructive storm in the Philippines since Super Typhoon "Yolanda" in 2013.