Typhoon hit China, Heavy rains in the area

Mian Shakeel Aslam--Authorities in the northern Chinese port city of Qingdao have shut beaches and piled sandbags along its waterfront in preparation for Typhoon Muifa.

The region's most powerful storm in years is forecast to hit the Shandong peninsula near Qingdao early on Monday.

Further south, the financial capital of Shanghai avoided a direct hit, though strong winds downed power lines and blew away billboards.

More than 300,000 people were evacuated and thousands of ships called ashore.

Muifa has already left four people dead in the Philippines and 27 injured on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

Power cuts

At 2000 (1200 GMT) on Sunday, the category-one typhoon was about 210 miles (340km) south-east of Qingdao and moving north-west at about 15mph (23km/h), the Hong Kong Observatory said. Its winds are gusting at up to 85mph (138 km/h).

After hitting Shandong, Muifa is forecast to weaken to a tropical storm.

The storm earlier skirted China's eastern coast, causing strong winds and torrential rain. But Shanghai was spared serious damage.

"It does not feel like a typhoon at all," Li Hongjun, a visitor from Shaanxi province, told the Reuters news agency. "I would think a typhoon would feel much stronger and there should be no-one walking in the streets."

In addition to evacuating residents and calling ships back to harbour, the authorities cancelled more than 200 flights and closed two bridges to outlying islands. Train and bus services were thrown into disarray.

Power cuts were reported damaged in at least two residential areas, said Sang Baoliang, deputy head of Shanghai's flood control headquarters. A 24-year-old man was also reported missing while swimming in heavy surf in the city's Jinshan district, Shanghai Television reported.

In South Korea, the authorities have issued a tidal-wave and flood warning along the country's western and southern coasts. Many domestic flights between Seoul and the island of Jeju have been cancelled.

Heavy rain is also forecast for parts of North Korea, which suffered flooding late last month. About 30 people died, thousands of homes were destroyed and farmland was badly damaged, state media say.

Posted by: Mian Shakeel Aslam

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