BEIJING, Sept. 18 -- Shang is on maximum alert as Typhoon Wipha has been upgraded to severe and is heading for east China at a rate of knots.

The city government held an emergency meeting last night and warned all relevant departments to be fully staffed and expect the worst.

The typhoon will bring torrential rain and gales to the city, according to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, which expects Wipha to hit tonight and last for two to three days.

However, storm activity was already evident just before Shanghai Daily went to press early this morning, with a brisk easterly wind, heavy cloud cover and steady rain falling.

The bureau is predicting up to 200 millimeters of rain to fall on Shanghai, driven by winds of between 50 and 88 kilometers per hour. Wind on the Yangtze River mouth and coastal areas is expected to reach up to 102kmh, while in the Yangshan Port district the forecast is for a 133kmh blow.

Maximum Celsius temperatures during the storm period are tipped to be in the high 20s, with lows of about 23.

The bureau said that Wipha may bring Shanghai the most serious typhoon damage "in recent years."

It is likely to affect the city's private and public transport, air traffic and shipping.

The bureau also warned ships passing through affected waters to take refuge in ports.

Wipha was upgraded from a regular to a severe typhoon yesterday afternoon. Shanghai and the provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian are directly in its path.

The Zhejiang and Fujian bureaus have both issued warnings and recalled all vessels, Xinhua news agency reported.

Wipha, packing winds of up to 183kmh, was heading northwest at a speed of 20kmh, the Zhejiang meteorological observatory said at 6pm yesterday. At that time, its epicenter was about 750 kilometers southeast of Jiaojiang, Taizhou, in Zhejiang.

The Zhejiang flood-control headquarters believes Wipha could develop into a super typhoon.

However, as weather is fickle, Wipha could just as easily change direction and hit other populated areas, or even miss landfall.

The Zhejiang provincial flood control headquarters has issued a warning to the public and told local authorities to prepare to relocate residents, patrol reservoirs and brace for geological disasters, Xinhua reported.

Nearly 30,000 Zhejiang-registered fishing vessels had returned to port by yesterday afternoon.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)