Worst storm in six years set to hit Shanghai as China moves 300,000 from coastal areas

ALMOST 300,000 people have been evacuated from China's eastern coast and more than 200 flights have been cancelled as the country braces itself for what could be its worst typhoon in years.

Thousands of ships have been called back to port ahead of Typhoon Muifa's arrival. The powerful tropical storm has already battered the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan and is due to hit eastern China today, packing winds of up to 100mph.

Officials in Zhejiang province ordered 206,664 people to leave their homes in coastal areas. A further 80,400 residents were evacuated from Fujian province.

Muifa is expected to make landfall in either northern Zhejiang or southern Jiangsu and skim the coast as it heads to the north of the country.

China's commercial hub of Shanghai, which has a population of 23 million, lies in Muifa's expected path, but it is unclear whether the city will take a direct hit from the storm. Torrential rain has already been forecast for the city.

Shanghai's municipal government has warned residents only to go outdoors if absolutely necessary and said Typhoon Muifa would probably be the worst storm to hit the city since Typhoon Matsa in 2005. Matsa killed 19 people in China, including five in Shanghai, and caused massive damage.

Shanghai's two airports are prepared for major flight delays and numerous cultural activities were called off this weekend, including a beach music festival.

Shanghai Airport cancelled 75 flights, Hangzhou cancelled 140 flights and Air China cancelled all inbound and outbound flights.

China's National Marine Environmental Forecasting Centre issued a red alert for waves up to 33ft-high in the East China Sea.

More than ten fishing boats with about 200 people on board were reported missing off China's east coast yesterday. It was unclear if their disappearance was directly related to the typhoon.

Last week, Typhoon Muifa killed four people in the Philippines even though it did not make landfall. The storm caused power cuts and injuries as it passed by Japan's southern island of Okinawa on Friday.

It was reported the typhoon had caused 27 injuries on Okinawa and power was out to more than 60,000 homes.

The centre of the storm was offshore, but high winds and heavy rain were forecast until yesterday.

Separately, it was reported that more than 4,700 homes in a province of North Korea were destroyed or damaged by extensive flooding spawned by torrential rains in late July, according to a Red Cross report.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also said that more than 28,000 people were affected by the 25-27 July rains in South Hwanghae province in the country's southwest.

The report gave no independent estimate of how many people died, but cited a death toll of 26.