Typhoon Wipha alert in Shanghai!

Orange alert is distributed by the local government today to prepare for the arrival of typhoon Wipha tonight. Everyone in the office and apartment complexes are warned to close the windows securely and not to leave anything outside in balcony. Schools have announced a day off tomorrow. Offices have asked their employees to bring their laptops home just in case we can't work tomorrow.

Typhoon Wipha, with a windspeed of 198km/hr at its center is believed to be the most destructive typhoon that ever hit Shanghai in a decade. The last updated news from China Daily is that the typhoon is only about 400 km away from shore and building up its speed as it approaches Shanghai.

We have been having heavy rainfall the whole day today, traffic jam everywhere in the city when I had to commute from one of the Shanghai's local distric back to the city and took me almost 2 hours to get back to the city. When I looked out from my office window at 4 pm today, it was totally dark outside.

Never in my life have I experienced any typhoon. I am not quite sure what to prepare, I am not even quite sure if I can sleep tonight. I have teleconference meetings scheduled with Germany tomorrow which I have pre-warned them that we might have to reschedule just in case the electricity or phone line is broken down.

I have even prewarned my family about the typhoon, just in case I can't contact them this weekend. I do hope it will turn out ok.