On Friday typhoon Mitag increased as it moved towards the Philippines. It set off evacuations, flooding and flight cancellations.

Now the winds of the typhoon are of 175 km per hour (108 miles per hour) at its centre. It is expected to strengthen.

The storm is likely to hit the Bicol region on Saturday, according to officials.

The people in the Bicol region took shelter in churches, schools and town halls. More than 50,000 people fled their homes.

Almost 200,000 would be evacuated from this region in fear that landslides may be caused by the volcanic mud from the slopes of Mount Mayon, Reuters reports.

Typhoon Mitag is expected to pass Bicol before arriving into the South China Sea by Monday. Mitag is a woman’s name and is pronounced Me-tok from Yap in the Pacific Ocean.

Now the typhoon is a category 2 and is expected to become a category 4.

Government meteorologist Nathaniel Cruz said that there was a “strong possibility of storm surges".

He added that Mitag could turn into a "super typhoon" with winds reaching 220 kph.

“The end result is that more things will be blown down and destroyed,” he said, BBC News quotes.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, Manila was in the typhoon warning area.

The central and northern Philippines are likely to be affected by the rains from the system.

Typhoon Mitag comes a week later after tropical storm Hagibis killed 13 people in the country. Currently Hagibis is in the South China Sea and is heading southern Vietnam.

Almost 30,000 suffered from the storm.

On Friday 25 sailors were missing in the South China Sea after a Philippine fishing boat overturned in the waters. The Philippine ship sank on Thursday morning near the Nansha Islands. It was transporting 80 sailors.

On the Nansha Islands, a group of islets, reefs and sand banks, hundreds of fishermen from China, the Philippines and Vietnam were stranded.

The Philippines are hit with regularity by typhoons. Authorities try to avoid the disaster that occurred last year when typhoon Durian, hit Bicol killing 1,200 people and leaving 120,000 homeless.