MANILA—Southern Leyte was still without electricity more than a week after Typhoon Odette ravaged the province, a local disaster response official said Tuesday.

As the typhoon destroyed homes and livelihoods across the province, it also left many families in urgent need of assistance, said Danilo Atienza, head of Southern Leyte Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.

"It is quite challenging how we could sustain the basic, urgent needs of the people considering that our local resources have been exhausted," he told ANC's "Headstart".

In Southern Leyte, Odette displaced around 100,000 people and killed 27 others in its wake. Most houses in coastal communities were destroyed by storm surges and strong winds brought by the typhoon.

"Although our casualty is small because of early preparation and evacuation, the damage wrought by the typhoon was wide-scale," Atienza said.

On Dec. 16, Odette made landfalls in the towns of Liloan and Padre Burgos in Southern Leyte.

• Typhoon Odette damage in Southern Leyte estimated at P3 billion

The Department of Public Works and Highways earlier estimated the damage to infrastructure and agriculture in the province at P3 billion.

"Very extensive talaga ang damage. It is similar to [Typhoon] Yolanda," Public Works Secretary and Southern Leyte Rep. Roger Mercado had said.

Odette, with international name Rai, also left a trail of destruction in the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, Surigao del Norte and the Dinagat Islands.

• Duterte eyes 'trapal', fallen coconut trees for Odette survivors' temporary shelter

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv