Typhoon Muifa pounds China

TYPHOON Muifa pounded China’s commercial capital of Shanghai with high winds and heavy rain while more than 400,000 residents along the country’s east coast were moved to shelter and tens of thousands of fishing boats were recalled to port.

Just south of the city, Zhejiang province moved 330,173 people from its coastal areas while another 80,400 were evacuated in Fujian province further down the coast, according to local government websites. More than 30,000 ships along the eastern coast were also called back to shore, they said.

Muifa was forecast to hit China early yesterday, making landfall in the eastern province of Shandong and skimming the coast as it heads north, China’s Central Met Administration said.