AT least one person has been killed as Shanghai braces for Typhoon Wipha to hit the city tonight with gales and even more torrential rain.

A man died yesterday when he stepped in water electrified by a light box on Hutai Road in Zhabei District.

The city has been placed on full alert for the typhoon as:

About 291,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas.

Ships and ferries returned to port.

Flights were delayed or canceled at both Hongqiao and Pudong international airports.

The city government halted all construction projects and closed riverside parks.

By last night, more than two million people in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces had been evacuated.

Wipha was last night downgraded from a super to a severe typhoon, according to the Fujian Meteorological Bureau. Wipha was packing winds of 180 kilometers an hour, and moving northwest at 8pm, the bureau said.

It is expected to make landfall between Xiapu in Fujian and Wenzhou in Zhejiang, the bureau said.

The predicted landfall is further from Shanghai than thought, but the city is taking no chances.

City middle and primary school students will have a day off today as Wipha is expected to enter Shanghai through Hangzhou Bay tonight, or early tomorrow morning.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange might close today if "emergency measures" were necessary, the exchange said last night.

Shanghai has already had almost continuous rain falling since 1am yesterday and Wipha is expected to dump an additional 100 millimeters. Up to 10pm, in downtown area, Putuo District had the most rainfall of 131 millimeters, while in the suburbs Baoshan had the most at 110 millimeters.

The wind at the Yangtze River coastal area is forecast to hit 102kmh, while Yangshan Port Area can expect 149kmh, the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau said.

Due to the heavy rain, more than 80 streets in Putuo, Yangpu, Zhabei, Hongkou, Huangpu and Changning were at one stage 10 to 30 centimeters deep in water.

Shanghai Flood Control Headquarters said yesterday public security and transport authorities should ensure traffic safety, and hospitals must be fully staffed and prepared for the worst.

Local power suppliers were busy checking their overhead lines yesterday. In Pudong alone, about 400 power company employees are on duty in rotating shifts around the clock. Drainage-management authorities had more than 3,000 workers on call yesterday.

The government of Taizhou, in Zhejiang, has closed all schools and factories and warned residents to stay indoors. Fujian Province has sent out 1.41 million text messages to warn the public.