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High winds and heavy rain hit China's densely populated east coast on Thursday, September 15, after Typhoon Muifa forced around 1.6 million people to leave their homes.

Ahead of landfall, the typhoon caused major air travel disruption in and around Shanghai, with more than half of all flights from the financial and trade hub canceled.

Heavy rainfall led to traffic jams and flooding in several areas of the Yangtze River Delta region, a major global manufacturing hub. The storm also brought much shipping in the region to a standstill, including container vessels and fishing boats.

At least 426,000 people were evacuated in Shanghai, and another 1.2 million people were taken to temporary shelters in neighboring Zhejiang province. Giant waves were seen crashing onto the coastline in Hangzhou Bay, south of Shanghai.

With winds up to 155 km/h, the storm previously hit the city of Zhoushan in Zhejiang on Wednesday, according to local authorities.

Muifa is the 12th typhoon to hit China this year, following Typhoon Hinnamnor, which lashed Shanghai last week after causing havoc in South Korea.