SHANGHAI, Aug. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- The central meteorological bureau in east China's Shanghai Municipality has raised its typhoon alert level from yellow to red status, as Typhoon Matsa has brought strong winds and torrential rains to most parts of the city, local government sources said on Friday night.

    By 21:00 Friday, about 43,600 local people had been evacuated from the coastal areas of the city to safer places, the municipal flood control department said.

    In about six hours since 21:00 Friday, wind power in the city is expected to go beyond scale 10, or the whole gale level, and the wind will also be accompanied by a heavy rainfall with an hourly precipitation of 30 mm, the local meteorological bureau said.

    The center of Matsa has reached sea waters about 430 km southeast of Shanghai, which is expected to land on the coastal areas of Wenling and Xiangshan in east China's Zhejiang Province on Saturday morning.

    An emergency team of over 1,000 people have got ready for any necessary rescue mission. And local ads boards and trees have all been reinforced, local government sources said. Enditem