Typhoon Ramil has intensified and is now slowly moving towards Northern Luzon.

It now packs peak winds of 175 km per hour gusting up to 210 kph according to weather officials and was “almost stationary” for a few hours Sunday before moving slowly west. The typhoon is expected to make landfall in Cagayan either this Wednesday evening or early Thursday.

“The more days it spends over sea, the more it is intensifying,” said Nathaniel Cruz of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

Lupit means Cruel

The typhoon’s interntional name Lupit is the Filipino word for cruel. This is also the 18th typhoon to enter the Philippines this year and is expected the hit provinces of Northern Luzon even as the region is still reeling from the massive devastation caused by Typhoon Pepeng earlier this month.

Relief Goods sent in Advance

Military and civilian officials have mobilized its relief goods distribution in preparation for the coming typhoon which is expected to further intensify as it nears the northern part of Luzon.

“All the units of the Northern Luzon Command have also been alerted,” said Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The government has positioned its assets for possible preemptive evacuation on danger areas as to avoid further loss of lives and property.

The weather service warned that seven dams in northern Luzon had been releasing water in anticipation of heavy rains.

Last month Sept 26, widespread flooding killed approximately 380 people and displaced 4.33 million others in and around Metro Manila as Ondoy brought a month’s rainfall within a span of six hours to the metropolis. Super typhoon Pepeng hit northern Luzon a week later and hovered over the region for more than one week, causing massive landslides and floods that left more than 430 people dead and displaced 3.8 million others.

As of this moment an estimated 266,000 civilians remain in overcrowded evacuation camps with reports of a bacteria-borne disease called leptospirosis claiming the lives of 93 people in flooded areas.