Typhoon “Odette” may not be the most powerful storm to hit the country since Supertyphoon “Yolanda” -- the strongest cyclone to hit the country -- but it sure was the most destructive.

In a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday night, Jan. 4, Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said Odette – which packed maximum sustained winds of 195 km per hour – was not as strong as Supertyphoon “Rolly” (315 km/h) in 2020, Typhoon “Ompong” (285 km/h) in 2018, and Typhoon “Lawin” (270 km/h) in 2016.

“But si Typhoon Odette ay nag-iwan ng pinakamatinding epekto at damages during this post-Yolanda period (But Typhoon Odette left the most damage during this post-Yolanda period),” he said.

Jalad said the NDRRMC has conducted “more” preparation for the onslaught of Odette compared to any other typhoon in recent past but it was just too powerful that a lot of people were still affected.

“We compared our conduct of preemptive evacuation in recent years and we saw that we did more in this... in preparation for Typhoon Odette. But still, we suffered more casualties,” he said.

Odette killed at least 407 people, 78 remained missing, and over 1,100 were injured when it hit Visayas and Mindanao on Dec. 16, 2021.

It was the second highest death count, next only to Yolanda’s 6,340 reported fatalities. Yolanda slammed into the country in 2013.

More than 4.8 million people were also affected by Odette in 38 provinces while around 475,000 were displaced and forced to stay in evacuation centers.

Odette also left an estimated P16.9 billion worth of damage to infrastructure while agricultural loss was pegged at P7.6 billion.