Typhoon Bebinca lands in Shanghai, strongest storm to hit city since 1949

Typhoon Bebinca made landfall in Shanghai on Monday (September 16) morning, becoming the most powerful tropical cyclone to directly hit the Chinese financial hub in more than seven decades. Packing top wind speeds of 151 kph (94 mph) near its eye, Bebinca landed in the city of nearly 25 million around 7:30 a.m. (2330 GMT), state media reported, the strongest storm to strike Shanghai since Typhoon Gloria in 1949. Riverside at the bund was closed in the morning with uprooted trees and branches strewn on the road. More than 1,400 flights from the city's two airports and over 570 passenger trains have been cancelled since Sunday evening, disrupting the travel plans of many people on the move over the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, a three-day public holiday in China. Shanghai is rarely subject to direct hits from strong typhoons that generally make landfall further south in China. Yagi, a destructive Category 4 storm, roared past southern Hainan province last week. (Production: Xihao Jiang, Angie Teo)