Typhoon Ewiniar was expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds to Shanghai as it passed by the city early today, Shanghai Meteorological Bureau said last night.

At 8pm, the typhoon was about 390 kilometers east of the city and moving north at 30 kilometers an hour.

But the bureau said Ewiniar appeared to be weakening and would probably stay out at sea, bypassing Shanghai.

Ewiniar was not expected to come within 300 kilometers of Shanghai, but would still bring heavy rain and winds of 40 to 90 kilometers an hour, the bureau said.

The city government warned low-lying areas of the city to prepare for possible flooding.

More than 500 Shanghai tourists were stranded on the Shengsi Islands, a popular tourist destination in Zhejiang Province, when the ferry service between the city and the islands was suspended yesterday.

And 7,634 people were evacuated from their homes near the city of Ningbo, in Zhejiang, on Saturday.

They were moved to schools or temporary shelters until the typhoon passed, the provincial flood control headquarters said.

Xinhua news agency said evacuations were also under way in other coastal cities of the province, including Taizhou, Zhoushan and Wenzhou.

The headquarters said more than 8,000 ships took shelter in harbors in coastal Ningbo and Zhoushan cities.

Three container ships berthed at Shanghai Yangshan Deep-Water Port sailed before 4am yesterday.

More than 250 boats and ships withdrew from the port to Luchao Port and Dinghai Port before 3pm on Saturday.

Flights were not seriously affected. Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao International Airport said no flights would be canceled, because Shanghai was only on the outskirts of Ewiniar.

The bureau said the top temperature today is expected to be 33 degrees Celsius after a low of 26 degrees.

The rain will probably continue to tomorrow. The weather is expected to be cloudy from Wednesday until the weekend, when more rain is expected in some areas of the city.

The hot weather will be back in the middle of the week, with a top temperature of 35 degrees.

This week's average temperature is expected to range between 28 and 29 degrees.

Typhoon Ewiniar, the third typhoon this year, formed on July 1 in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines.

In May and June, Typhoon Chanchu and Typhoon Jelawat hit south China provinces, causing numerous deaths and huge property losses.   

(Shanghai Daily July 10, 2006)