“JULIAN” yesterday intensified into a typhoon from a severe tropical storm and may make landfall in the Batanes or Babuyan Island area today, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.

PAGASA also said will continue to intensify, up to the super typhoon category.

In a bulletin issued at 8 p.m. yesterday, PAGASA said it raised Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 4 in Batanes.

“Significant to severe impacts from typhoon-force winds are possible within any of the localities where Wind Signal No. 4 is hoisted,” PAGASA said.

Placed under Signal No. 3 was Babuyan Islands while under Signal No. 2 was up in mainland Cagayan, Apayao, and Ilocos Norte.

Under Signal No. 1 were Ilocos Sur, La Union, Abra, Kalinga, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Benguet, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, and the northern and central portions of Aurora.

PAGASA said there may be “moderate to significant” impact from winds in areas under Signal No. 3, “minor to moderate” impact from winds in areas under Signal No. 2, and “minimal to minor” impact of winds in areas under Signal No. 1.

Julian is the country’s 10th tropical cyclone for this year. It intensified into a severe tropical depression, then further into a typhoon yesterday.

As of 7 p.m. yesterday, Julian was some 190 km east northeast Calayan, Cagayan or 150 km east southeast of Basco, Batanes, PAGASA said. It was moving northwestward at 15 kph, packing maximum sustained winds of 140 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 170 kph.

PAGASA said Julian was forecast to move generally west northwestward over Balintang and Bashi Channels until Tuesday morning.

“On the track forecast, the typhoon will make landfall or pass very close to Batanes tomorrow (today) morning or afternoon,” PAGASA said.

“On Tuesday afternoon, JULIAN will be sharply turning northward toward Taiwan, where

it is forecast to make another landfall on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning,” added PAGASA.

PAGASA said Julian is expected to exit the Philippine area of responsibility on Thursday.

It said Julian will continue to intensify, up to the super typhoon category.

“Julian (from 8 p.m. Sunday) is forecast to continue intensifying over the next 48 hours and may reach super typhoon category before making its landfall over southern Taiwan,” said PAGASA.

Roldan Esdicul, chief of the Batanes provincial disaster risk reduction and management office, said the province was already experiencing light to moderate rains as of yesterday morning.

Esdicul said the province has been preparing for the Julian since last Friday.

He said owners of houses made from light materials have been advised to check if their houses are in good condition and to reinforce their dwellings if necessary.

“We already prepared our evacuation centers but we have yet to effect preemptive evacuation because it’s still tolerable,” said Esdicul, referring to the weather condition in the province.

“We have some tourists who were stranded,” he also said Esdicul, without elaborating.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has declared a “blue alert,” and directed its local offices, especially those in Northern Luzon, to start preparations for Julian.

This means the agency, especially the field offices within the typhoon path, should have started pre-positioning family food packs and non-food relief items in their warehouses in the provinces to be affected by Julian, inspected and prepared evacuation centers that would be used for emergencies, and increased coordination with local government units and other agencies concerned.

“The DSWD Disaster Response Command Center (DRCC) has transitioned to blue alert status … The DSWD constantly monitors the situation across the country and maintains close coordination with its Field Offices to ensure the timely delivery of necessary relief assistance,” it said in a Facebook post.

The DSWD’s Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center  said that based on the predictive analytics, over 3.42 million individuals or 146,162 poor families in regions I (Ilocos), II (Cagayan Valley), III Central Luzon), Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and National Capital Region (NCR) could be affected.

The agency said it has over P2.848 billion worth of funds (P171.4 million) and food packs and non-food items (P1.48 billion) on standby. – With Jocelyn Montemayor