MANILA - Residents across northern Luzon are bracing for the wrath of typhoon "Ramil," which has a possibility of developing into a supertyphoon.

In Aparri in Cagayan province, Bing Genova is rushing the repair of her roof that was destroyed by typhoon "Pepeng."

Her family's clothes remain packed. She has not put them back in the cabinets, so that she can pick up them up, in a moment's notice.

Fisherman Antonio Buyarin, meanwhile, took advantage of the brief good weather while “Ramil” is still approaching Luzon, to go out and cast his net into the sea.

Aling Bing in Aparri said she is lucky she still has a house. Many residents in Pangasinan lost their homes to the floods, and therefore, they have no roofs to mend.

Many residents have been forced to create these makeshift houses from scratch.

The Manangan family's house was swept away during typhoon Pepeng.

They have turned a mini-bus into their temporary shelter.

"Pinagtitiyagaan na lang po [namin] kasi wala naman po kaming matirahan dito, kasi wala [na] po kaming bahay,," Lorna Managan said.

Pre-evacuation

Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino Jr. is ordering all residents in Pangasinan, whose houses were previously engulfed by the floods, to leave their houses once more, while they still can.

In the town of San Nicolas, sand bags are being piled up, on a part of a dike that was breached by the floodwaters brought by “Pepeng”.

All these preparations give residents and local officials some hope that they would be able to minimize the damage that "Ramil" will bring.

'Clamor' to close dam

The local officials only lamented that officials of the San Roque Dam in Pangasinan do not seem to be as involved, as they should be.

The dam operators were absent in a forum where they were supposed to meet.

This prompted a Pangasinan official to move for the closure of the San Roque Dam.

"Paano kung totoong nagkaroon ng crack iyan? Anong mangyayari sa atin? Baka para tayong langgam na tinapunan ng isang palanggana na di alam kung saan lalangoy," Pangasinan Vice Gov. Marlyn Primicias-Agabas said.

"Talagang ang clamor ng mga tao dito sa ating probinsya ay why not close it nalang," she added.

But a response to a measure like this will need time for review.

The fact is, just as the government needs to prevent flooding, it must also operate infrastructures like dams, that supply power to the provinces.

For now, residents are faced with more urgent threats.

These include the rainfall that typhoon "Ramil" is expected to bring and the decisions the dam operators will make, before the water in the dam again reaches critical level.

1 more body found in landslide

Meanwhile, people in La Trinidad, Benguet cannot shift their attention to this new typhoon, just yet.

The search for persons buried alive in the landslides, is far from being completed.

The body of Melissa Anablon's husband Arsenio, has just been found.

But even with the recovery of Arsenio's body, Melissa still has to look for another loved one.

Melissa is not yet in a stage where she can think of saving herself from typhoon "Ramil."

Preparations like these seem only right for her neighbors, whose family members have been all accounted for.

They have already evacuated as early as Sunday, when it started to rain.

Benguet Gov. Nestor Fongwan may have to resort to sterner measures, to force victims like Melissa to leave their place.

"Nag-house-to-house na sila, even in Tublay [town]... and then, actually naka-ready naman na ang mga evacuation centers," Fongwan said.

La Trinidad's municipal engineer's office is rushing the repair of a drainage system, to minimize landslides.

Some residents are already fearing for what could happen once Ramil strikes.

"Kasi pag may bagyo na naman, baka masira na naman... ayaw ko na talaga [bumalik diyan]... nakakatakot naman kasi nung bagyong Pepeng talagang [nadadala] ang lupa," Emily Nayengyeng, resident of Itogon, said.

‘Managing’ landslides

Managing the landslides is all the local engineer’s office can do.

A geologist in at the University of the Philippines in Baguio said the Cordillera region will always be in constant threat from landslides.

"'Pag 'yong soil na iyon ay nalagyan ng tubig, ma-saturate siya ng tubig, maglo-loosen siya, then babagsak talaga siya kasi bibigat. So 'yon iyong major reason kung bakit tayo maraming landslides ngayon," Professor Arlene Tengonciang said.

The local government in Benguet and Baguio may have to implement a more drastic approach to minimize the casualties during typhoons.

But the first thing they have to deal with, are residents like Melissa Anablon, who understandably, cannot just walk away from a disaster area, while a family member remains buried in the rubble. With reports from Cris Zuniga, ABS-CBN Dagupan; Pia Gutierrez, ABS-CBN Baguio; and Abner Mercado, ABS-CBN News