Powerful storm whips eastern China

19/09/2007| IslamWeb

Typhoon Wipha has hit China's coast south of Shanghai, flooding streets and fields and causing massive transportation disruptions.

But fears the storm could be the worst to hit eastern China in several years appeared to be easing with the typhoon fast losing power as it moved over land on Wednesday.

The meteorological bureau in Zhejiang province, where Wipha made landfall, downgraded it to a severe tropical storm when sustained wind speeds dropped below 118 kph.

Some two million people had been evacuated from coastal areas at risk as the storm neared the Chinese mainland.

But it may still cause significant damage through flooding and winds when it passes Shanghai later in the day.

One man was reported to have been electrocuted when he stepped in a puddle electrified by a light box in the northern part of the city.

There were few other reports of damage or injuries.

Shanghai, China's financial hub and biggest city, closed schools, ferries and other transport links amid warnings of torrential rains and strong winds. It had also considered closing the stock exchange.

Matches for the women's World Cup in Shanghai were rescheduled and moved and many flights out of Shanghai and other regional airports were cancelled.

Meteorological officials had earlier warned that Wipha - which had been packing wind gusts of up to 260 kph - could be the most destructive storm to hit the Shanghai area in years if it followed a course northward that would take it just west of the city.

The deadliest storm to hit the China coast in recent years was Typhoon Winnie in 1997, which killed 236 people.

On Tuesday, one worker was reported killed and another seriously injured as the fringe of Wipha lashed Taiwan, knocking down scaffolding at a highway construction site in Taipei.

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About 2 million Chinese evacuated from storm-hit areas.

Al-Jazeera