200,000 evacuated as typhoon threatens Shanghai

DHAKA: China evacuated 200,000 people from Shanghai as the third typhoon in a week bore down on the east coast, state media said on Tuesday, warning it could be the most powerful storm to hit since 2005.

Typhoon Haikui was expected to make landfall in Zhejiang province, just south of Shanghai, late Tuesday or early Wednesday, the China Meteorological Administration said, reports The Straits Times.

Like Shanghai, authorities in Zhejiang were rushing to get people out the path of the typhoon, with 130,000 residents evacuated, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Shanghai officials fear the storm could be the worst since 2005, when Typhoon Matsa killed seven people in the city, state media said.

BDST: 1942 HRS, AUG 7, 2012

Edited by Robab Rosan, Cultural Affairs Editor