SHANGHAI (AFP) — Typhoon Wipha, potentially the most destructive storm in a decade, bore down on China's financial capital Shanghai Tuesday, triggering mass evacuations and disrupting the women's World Cup.
The typhoon, packing winds of 155 kilometres (112 miles) per hour, was expected to make landfall in east China around midnight (1600 GMT), after gale-force winds and driving rains first hit northern Taiwan.
Shanghai, a city of 17 million people, and the heavily populated neighbouring provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian, were on high alert as officials warned residents to prepare for the worst.
Chinese meteorologists were concerned that Wipha, which was 120 kilometres (74 miles) northwest of Ilan on Taiwan's northeastern coast at 2:00 pm, could become more powerful as it churned towards Shanghai.
"This is the first time in 10 years that the eye of the storm will probably make landfall in Shanghai," said Ding Ruoyang, a meteorologist at the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau.
Up to 200 millimetres (eight inches) of rain was expected to pelt the city, while winds could gust above 102 kilometres per hour, prompting officials to begin an evacuation of 200,000 people.
"The evacuation includes residents who live in old and dangerous houses, workers who live in temporary construction site structures as well as workers living near the shore," Ding said.
Matches at the women's World Cup have been postponed and a fixture between Norway and Ghana scheduled for Wednesday has been relocated from Shanghai to neighbouring Hangzhou, about three hours away by car.
However, organisers said they would push ahead with a Tuesday evening match between the United States and Nigeria.
Shanghai's two airports, Hongqiao and Pudong, were operating as normal, according to Huang Guangye, a spokesman with the Shanghai Airport Authority.
"At the same time, we've made logistical preparations in case flights are delayed and passengers are made to wait Wednesday," he said.
As the storm approached Tuesday, the head of the China Meteorological Administration, Zheng Guoguang, warned that global warming was resulting in stronger and more lethal typhoons.
"Due to global warming, the number of strong typhoons is increasing and more areas are vulnerable to the attack by typhoons," Xinhua quoted Zheng as saying at a conference in Beijing.
In China's southeast, the Fujian provincial government had evacuated more than 160,000 people.
Further north, in Zhejiang province, authorities prepared to evacuate residents and patrol reservoirs, while also bracing for mudslides. Meteorologists said the city of Wenzhou could lie in the middle of the storm's path.
Food and water was being stored, while ferry services had been suspended, and fishing vessels had been ordered back to harbour, according to China's official Xinhua news agency.
State television footage showed huge waves hitting eastern shores while soldiers helped local residents move to temporary shelters amid pouring rains.
Taiwan authorities curbed air travel and closed its stock exchange, while offices and schools in several northern areas of the island, including the capital Taipei, were shut as many coastal residents were moved to higher ground.
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 hit Japan, killing seven people, while on Sunday Typhoon Nari killed at least nine in South Korea.
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