Taipei, Sep 12 (IANS): Taiwanese authorities made preparations on Tuesday ahead of of Typhoon Talim which will pass the island on Wednesday.

The Central Weather Bureau issued a sea warning and announced that Talim will begin to affect Taiwan with strong winds and rains on Wednesday morning, and later during the night its eye will pass near heavily populated areas in the northern part of the island, reports Efe news.

Prime Minister Lai Ching-te has convened a special government meeting and authorised the activation of the emergency operations centre.

Markets on Tuesday were crowded with long lines of people waiting to buy goods ahead of Talim's arrival, as it is feared that the storm could destroy crops and cause the price of fruits and vegetables to soar.

The damage Talim could cause depends on its pathway, but given past experiences there are fears of power outages as well as floods and landslides, the weather bureau said.

The government has already started evacuating residents in areas at risk of flooding or landslides, and is monitoring the levels of rivers and reservoirs.

Talim, which intensified from a tropical storm to typhoon on Monday, is still about 1,000 km east of Taiwan and is moving toward the island at a speed of about 31 km per hour, with sustained winds of about 120 km per hour.

In 2009, typhoon Morakot caused some 700 deaths.