90mph typhoon slams into Shanghai

Typhoon Haikui has slammed into eastern China's Zhejiang province, packing winds up to 90mph and triggering flooding.

Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated earlier from parts of heavily populated Shanghai and surrounding areas and ships were ordered to port in preparation for Haikui, the third typhoon to hit China in less than a week.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the storm landed in Zhejiang's Hepu township in Xiangshan county before dawn today.

It said about 130 people were stranded in rural areas by flooding but did not report any casualties.

The China Meteorological Administration had issued a red alert for Typhoon Haikui, the highest so far this year, and said it was expected to bring heavy rains and strong winds for 48 hours.

Shanghai, which has 23 million people and is the country's financial hub, banned all outdoor group activities, closed all city parks and suspended summer classes. It also stopped all outdoor construction.

The city was evacuating 200,000 people and the adjoining province of Zhejiang had already evacuated 130,000, Xinhua said. It said more than 30,000 ships had been called back to shelter in ports.

China is still recovering from typhoons Damrey and Saola, which hit over the weekend. The flooding and landslides from those storms killed 23 people and left nine missing, Xinhua said yesterday.

Saola battered Taiwan and the Philippines earlier and was blamed for about 60 deaths in the two countries.