Manila: Philippine authorities evacuated more areas on Friday and warned an estimated 5.2 million people in the path of a "very destructive" typhoon to stay indoors, as the country braced for heavy rain and damage to infrastructure and crops.

Super Typhoon Mangkhut is expected to barrel through the northernmost tip of the Philippines Saturday morning, carrying 205kmph wind speeds, and gusts of up to 255 kmph, that it has maintained since it struck Micronesia earlier in the week.

More than 9,000 people have been moved to temporary shelters as Mangkhut, locally known as Ompong, makes its way towards the rice- and corn-producing provinces of Cagayan and Isabela where it is forecast to make landfall overnight.

Disaster officials warned that tens of thousands more may need to be moved and weather forecasters warned of storm surges as high as six metres in coastal villages in the typhoon's path. Second and third contingents of rescue teams were being prepared, in case first-responders get into trouble themselves.