MANILA (Update) -- Tropical Storm Ramil (international codename: Lupit) intensified further as it continues to move towards northern and central Luzon, the Philippine Atmospheric, and Geophysical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

The weather bureau said that as of 11 a.m. Saturday, Ramil was located at 780 kilometers east northeast of Virac, Catanduanes and moved west northwest at 13 kilometers per hour (kph).

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The typhoon packs maximum sustained winds of 130 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 160 kph.

Typhoon Ramil entered the Philippine area of responsibility Friday night, barely three weeks after one of Southeast Asia’s most destructive storms hit the country.

Pagasa chief Nathaniel Cruz said Friday night the storm was headed for central and northern Luzon, given its present course.

He said, however, that based on its satellite direction, Ramil might only enter the territory and veer away immediately.

Cruz said the country will likely feel the impact of Ramil on Tuesday but an intertropical convergence zone will bring scattered rain showers, especially in Luzon, this weekend.
Pagasa said public and disaster coordinating councils concerned are advised to take appropriate actions.

The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers and thunderstorms, the weather bureau said.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the government has pre-positioned the necessary equipment and goods in areas that will be affected by the storm.

He also assured that dam operators have learned from experience and released water while the storm was still far away.

On Friday evening, television reports said that operators of the San Roque Dam in San Manuel, Pangasinan, one of the worst-hit provinces in Luzon during the onslaught of Typhoon Pepeng (international codename: Parma), will increase the volume of water to be released from the dam starting Saturday, from 600 cubic meters (m3s) per second to 800 m3s per second due to heavy rains.

Pagasa hydrologist Socrates Paat Jr. said the Angat Dam in Bulacan may also open more gates should Typhoon Ramil dump rains in their respective stations.

However, no major flooding was seen to occur as Ramil makes a landfall and promptly exits the country.

"As long as hindi ito magiging stationary, hindi ito magbibigay ng maraming ulan, [As long as it does not become stationary, it won't dump heavy rains]," Paat said.

Pagasa chief Cruz warned that Ramil will strengthen further while crossing “the vast Philippine sea,” and forewarned residents already devastated by storms Ondoy (international codename: Ketsana) and Pepeng to be prepared “for an intense typhoon.”
“It [Typhoon Ramil] can reach almost the super-typhoon intensity before hitting land, if and when there will be no change in its course, direction and speed,” Cruz said.

Ramil will be the 18th storm to enter the country this year.
Still battered from the devastation caused by Typhoon Pepeng last week, Benguet province is bracing for more possible destruction from the new tropical storm.

Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan said they can only hope the new storm will spare northern Luzon this time.

“We are still retrieving our dead and here comes Ramil. I do not know what will happen next. I hope it does not hit us,” he said in an interview over dzXL radio.

Fongwan said he has ordered local officials to have families living in high-risk areas evacuate their homes early, before the storm hits.

Olive Luces, head of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Baguio City, said thousands of residents in the Cordillera region were also advised to move to safer ground to avoid the threat of mudslides that last week buried dozens of mountainside houses with entire families, blocked roads and isolated towns for days.

With the jagged terrain in the region of more than 1.2 million people, Luces said that large swathes of land may be considered danger zones.

Residents living in low-lying areas, near cliffs and mountain slopes will be priority targets for evacuation, she said.

As of 6 p.m. Friday, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said a total of 419 persons have been confirmed killed by landslides and floods caused by Pepeng’s heavy rains.

Ondoy’s death toll was pegged at 354, bringing the total of deaths from the two storms to 773.

The death toll from the twin storms was expected to increase as the NDCC report showed that there were 88 persons still missing in the rubble and floods.

The cost of damage wrought by the two storms on agriculture and infrastructure in the affected regions was estimated at P21.287 billion, while a total of 155 out of 1,118 schools in regions affected by Pepeng are still being used as evacuation centers for 9,186 families, according to the Department of Education (DepEd). (PNA/Sunnex/With Sun.Star Cebu)