Taiwan issued warnings against flooding and landslides on Sunday as tropical storm Morakot headed towards the island's south from seas off the Philippines' northwest coast.

Morakot was about 180 km (110 miles) southeast from Oluanpi, Taiwan's sourthernmost tip, by 0115 GMT and moving northwest at 18 km per hour (11 mph), weather bureau in Taiwan said in a statement.

With maximum sustained winds of 85 km/h (50 mph) and gusts of up to 110 km/h (68 mph), the storm would bring heavy rains to the southern and eastern parts of the island and potentially cause flash floods and landslides, the bureau said.

In 2001 one of Taiwan's deadliest typhoons, Toraji, killed 200 people. A few months later, Typhoon Nari triggered Taipei's worst flooding and paralysed the city for two days, killing 100.

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