TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) -- -- Typhoon Matsa lashed northern Taiwan with torrential rain and strong winds on Friday, closing down schools, government offices and financial markets in the capital, Taipei.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 89 miles (144 km) per hour and gusts up to 112 miles (180 km) per hour, Matsa's centre was 162 miles (260 km) northeast of Taipei at 6 p.m. (1000 GMT), the Central Weather Bureau said.
The medium-strength storm was moving north-northwest away from Taiwan towards Shanghai, China's richest city and financial hub, at 9 miles (14 km) per hour and is expected to be the worst storm to hit since 1997.
If the typhoon travels at its present speed and course, it is expected to make landfall in China between Friday night and midday Sunday, weather forecasters said.
Even before the typhoon hits, China evacuated over 500,000 people from eastern Zhejiang province and arranged safe harbour for 35,000 boats as the storm churned toward the coast, the official Xinhua agency reported.
"The typhoon is expected to hit China's northern part of Zhejiang province late tonight or early tomorrow morning. It will bring strong wind and rain to Shanghai," an official with the city's meteorological bureau said.
After a night of pounding rain, Taipei's normally busy streets were empty as residents heeded the government's warning to stay at home and be on alert for flash floods and landslides.
No casualties were reported so far, but the agricultural council put initial farm damage at T$36 million (US$1.1 million).
Mudslides, flash floods
Television footage showed mudslides blocking roads in the mountains and a washed-away bridge in rural areas.
"We make necessary preparations every time before a typhoon hits, but the place is still flooded," a bare-footed woman in a village in the northern county of Hsinchu told TVBS, standing before her flooded home next to a pile of sandbags.
"We have been through too many scary floods," she added.
Hsinchu County has been hit hardest by the typhoon, with over 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) of rain recorded in the past 36 hours.
More than 50,000 households were left without electricity and 100,000 families had no tap water, the National Fire Agency said.
Taipei's international airport was still in operation though some flights were delayed.
Loading at two seaports in the north and northeast have also been stopped. Taiwan refiners said their operations were unaffected.
Besides Taipei, schools and businesses in six other cities and counties in northern Taiwan were also shut.
It was the second time in a month that a typhoon has forced financial markets to shut down. In July, Typhoon Haitang killed 12 people in Taiwan and three more are still listed as missing.
Haitang caused T$4.8 billion ($151 million) in damages to the agricultural sector, according to government figures, before swirling into China, where it forced a million residents on the mainland's southeast coast to evacuate.
Typhoons gather strength from warm sea water and tend to dissipate after making landfall. They frequently hit Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong and southern China during a typhoon season that lasts from early summer to late autumn.
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