At least one person was killed and two million evacuated as Typhoon Wipha hit China's densely populated east coast near the financial hub Shanghai early Wednesday.
The typhoon struck south of the metropolis at 2:30 am (1830 GMT Tuesday), according to Xinhua news agency, and was expected to hit the city within the ensuing 12-hour period.
The weather was calm in Shanghai, a city of 17 million, on Wednesday morning, but the typhoon had already claimed a victim.
An unidentified man was electrocuted in Shanghai's Zhabei district Tuesday as he stepped into waters that had been electrically charged by a light box, the Shanghai Daily said.
Meanwhile, the city ordered the evacuation of 291,000 people from low-lying areas, while ships and ferries returned to port, according to the paper.
Flights were delayed or cancelled at both Hongqiao and Pudong international airports, the paper reported.
While the typhoon had initially been expected to hit Shanghai head-on, the heavily populated neighbouring province of Zhejiang instead bore the first brunt of the typhoon, which weakened slightly before making landfall.
Two million residents of Zhejiang province were evacuated and nearly 40,000 ships were ordered back to harbour, Xinhua said.
Wipha — a woman's name in Thai — had also led to school cancellations in Shanghai.
Typhoons regularly hit China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea towards the end of August and in September.
Earlier this month Typhoon Fitow struck Japan, killing seven people, while on Sunday Typhoon Nari killed at least nine in South Korea.
Source: Agence France-Presse
