Taiwan began ushering thousands of residents and tourists to safety as the island braced for its first typhoon this year.
Typhoon Danas is expected to make landfall late on Thursday as dozens of domestic flights and ferry services were cancelled.
The military are standing by in areas which are susceptible to landslides.
A decade ago, Typhoon Morakot killed nearly 700 people, due mostly to landslides.
Authorities said about 2,000 people were moved to safety on islands off the east coast which are in the Typhoon’s current path.
It is expected to come ashore in Yilan County in East Taiwan.
The Central Weather Bureau said by late Wednesday it had a radius of about 150 kilometres and was packing sustained winds of 64 kph with gusts of up to 90 kph.
The CWB said a portion of Danas has split from the main weather system and is heading to the west of Taiwan.
This could develop into a second typhoon, it said.
