WRAP Typhoon batters south-east, ADDS AP pix

SHOTLIST Shanghai - 29 September 2007 1. Wide of street with people walking in rain, holding umbrellas 2. Tree branches blowing in the wind 3. People standing in rain, one person's umbrella is being blown inside out from force of wind 4. Various of boat battling with the waves on Huangpu River 5. Wide of people with umbrellas in rain 7. People walking in rain, their faces covered with their umbrellas 8. Various of people in rain with umbrellas Fengxian Harbour - 19 September 2007 9. Wide of boats at anchor 10. Chinese flags on boats, blowing in wind 11. Man sitting inside cabin on boat 12. Wide of elementary school, where some people have been evacuated to 13. Various of evacuated people inside school classrooms 14. SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin) Mr Zhu (first name unknown), Evacuated Worker: "We heard the typhoon was coming to Shanghai and the company we work for evacuated us to this school. We came here around four o'clock yesterday afternoon (0800 GMT)." 15. Various of evacuees playing games and reading in school classroom 16. Elderly man, who was evacuated from his home, sitting inside school 17. SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin) Zhan Endong, Principle of Haiwan Elementary School where the evacuees are staying: "The typhoon is coming to Shanghai this afternoon and will most likely land at night. Shanghai will suffer when the typhoon hits. We have to be careful and take care of these people, who have been evacuated here. As to when we can let them go back, we need to wait for the advice of the government and I think they can go back once the typhoon warning has been removed.'' 18. Wide of coastal road with wind turbines in the background 19. Palm trees blowing in the wind 20. Close of wind turbines STORYLINE: Typhoon Wipha slammed into the coast south of Shanghai early Wednesday, flooding streets and fields and causing massive transport disruptions. Forecasters feared it would be the most powerful storm to hit eastern China in a decade. The storm came onshore near Cangnan in southern Zhejiang province, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of Shanghai. Shanghai and the coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian to the south earlier issued typhoon warnings requiring all vessels to return to shore or change course to avoid the storm. Authorities also ordered the evacuation of two million (m) people from ships, coastal regions and housing deemed unsafe. The typhoon initially packed sustained winds of up to 162 kilometres-per-hour (kph) (100 miles-per-hour (mph)) and gusts up to 230 kph (145 mph) before rapidly losing strength. The Meteorological Bureau in Zhejiang province reported shortly after landfall that Wipha had been downgraded to a severe tropical storm. Wipha is expected to pass Shanghai later in the day and still has the potential to cause significant damage through flooding and strong winds. In the harbour of Fengxian, a southern district of Shanghai fishing boats and cargo vessels dropped anchor to sit out the storm. More than 300 nearby residents were forced to evacuate their homes and workplaces on Tuesday, taking refuge at a local elementary school. So far one death has been reported as a result of the typhoon - a Shanghai resident was electrocuted, according to the state-run newspaper Shanghai Daily. Wipha, a woman's name in Thai, was upgraded from a tropical storm on Monday. Local meteorological officials said it would be the most destructive storm to hit the Shanghai area in years. The deadliest storm in recent years was Typhoon Winnie in 1997, which killed 236 people. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/57cffa9e023c42de5190ab22c87828e5 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork