A tropical storm gained strength and developed into a typhoon Thursday as it headed toward an eastern Philippine region ravaged last year by flash floods and volcanic mudslides that killed more than 1,000 people, officials said.

Typhoon Mitag was packing 75 mph winds with gusts of up to 94 mph as it blew westward from the Philippine Sea toward the Bicol region, chief government forecaster Nathaniel Cruz said.

It could become a “super typhoon,” with winds of more than 138 mph, by the time it makes landfall, expected this weekend, he said.

Recent rains have already saturated the ground around Mayon volcano in Bicol, and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, worried about a repeat of last year’s disaster, ordered mass evacuations in the typhoon’s expected path and cut short her trip to Singapore, where she was attending an Asian summit.