TAIPEI (REUTERS, DPA) - Taiwan moved thousands of people to safety on Wednesday (July 17) as the island braced for its first typhoon this year, as airlines cancelled domestic flights and authorities issued warnings about floods from heavy rains as well as high seas.

Typhoon Danas, categorised at the weakest typhoon level, was expected to hit the eastern county of Yilan late on Thursday. The centre of Danas, currently 470km southeast of Taiwan, is moving at a pace of about 18km per hour in a north-west direction towards the Hengchun Peninsula in southern Taiwan, weather officials said.

On Wednesday, more than 2,000 tourists were evacuated from Green Island, off the south-eastern city of Taitung.

Nearly two dozen domestic flights and ferry services were cancelled, while troops were put on standby in some areas amid fears of heavy rain, which can trigger landslides and flooding.

Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang on Wednesday inspected the Central Emergency Operations Centre, ordering local government units to be fully prepared. Officials urged residents in low-lying coastal areas in eastern, southern and southeastern Taiwan to stay alert for possible floods being caused by Danas.

Danas is also expected to affect northern parts of the Philippines on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing flood risk there.

Typhoons regularly hit Taiwan, China, the Philippines and Japan in the second half of the year, gathering strength from the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean or South China Sea.

Typhoon Morakot devastated Taiwan in 2009, killing nearly 700 people, most of them in landslides.