the night of 29 July, Muifa was upgraded to a severe tropical storm. Overnight, the storm strengthened rapidly and was upgraded to a typhoon the next morning. According to the JTWC, Muifa had strengthened from a tropical storm to a super typhoon in less than 24 hours; it reported that the storm was reaching one-minute sustained wind speed of . However, the typhoon weakened later in the day. According to the JTWC, on 31 July the typhoon encountered an upper-level trough and weakened to a category-4 typhoon on the SSHS. The system gradually moved north, then turned west and drifted towards Okinawa before turning northwest again (when it was finally downgraded to a tropical storm by the JTWC). Soon afterwards, the JMA downgraded Muifa to a severe tropical storm. After weakening to a tropical storm, Muifa made landfall at the estuary of the Yalu River on 8 August and the JTWC issued its final warning. Early on 9 August, Muifa weakened to a tropical depression in northeast China and later became a low-pressure area. Preparations Okinawa Japanese officials canceled several flights to Okinawa, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. On 5 August, China Airlines cancelled several flights to Okinawa as the storm passed within of the island. Taiwan Light rain with moderate winds were reported throughout Taiwan, as the outer rain bands of the system brushed the island nation. The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) announced that heavy rains and strong winds would impact the Republic of China. On 6 August the CWB lifted the sea warning for Taiwan, since the system had turned northwest and was no longer expected to cause any damage to the island. Mainland China As the system approached mainland China, PRC authorities began ordering fishing boats back to shore. Residents of Shanghai were also warned, since the storm was expected to be as strong as Typhoon Matsa in 2005. To prevent railway accidents during the storm, Shanghai railway authorities set up a team to inspect high-speed railway facilities. The Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) issued a decree on 4 August ordering civil agencies in Shanghai and the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi and Shandong to carry out disaster-relief operations, preventing as many casualties as possible. An orange alert, the second highest in the four-level sea-wave alert system, was issued on the East China Sea as the system neared land. On 5 August the port of