The weather bureau said Typhoon Nalgae, packing center winds of 140 kph (85 miles) and gusts of up to 170 kph, was expected to intensify before it made landfall in the rice-producing Cagayan province on Saturday afternoon.

“We’re advising people in coastal and landslide-prone areas to prepare and move to safer areas to avoid possible loss of lives,” Nathaniel Servando, chief weather forecaster, told a news conference.

Servando said Nalgae, locally known as Quiel, is gathering strength in the Pacific and was moving westward at 22 kph.

Nalgae will be the second typhoon to make landfall on Luzon in less than a week, inducing the southwest monsoon to dump more rains and flooding wide areas north of the capital.

Typhoon Nesat left 43 people dead and destroyed about 4 billion pesos ($91 million) worth of crops and infrastructure early this week, the disaster agency said.

Nesat damaged more than 100,000 tons of rice in Central Luzon alone, and could mean the country needs to import more rice, the head of the state grain agency said.

Towns in Pampanga and Bulacan, provinces north of the capital, were flooded and water levels continued to rise as officials had to released water from full dams to make room for the rains Nalgae would bring.

Television images showed people wading in chest-deep floodwaters in Bulacan’s main roads, while others were marooned on the roofs of their houses, waving for help.

“We don’t know why water is rising because there are no more rains,” Maribeth Galang, a resident of Calumpit town in Bulacan province, said in a television interview.

“We’re appealing for help. We’re running out of potable water, food and there’s no electricity. Where are the rescue people?“

Local officials appealed to people to start moving to safer areas.

“We’re asking you to leave now, don’t wait for us because we have limited manpower and resources,” Lilia Pineda, governor of Pampanga province.