More than a million people have been evacuated from their homes across eastern China, including the financial hub of Shanghai, as Typhoon Dolphin made landfall, bringing extensive rainfall and disrupting transport networks.
Chinese authorities confirmed that Typhoon Dolphin, which had been the strongest storm to impact China this year, has since been downgraded to a tropical storm. However, warnings for torrential rains, severe flooding, and the potential for landslides remain in effect through to Wednesday as the system tracks northwards.
The typhoon initially prompted a red alert from Chinese authorities, their highest-level warning. It first struck Yuhuan in Zhejiang province at 17:30 (09:30 GMT) on Sunday, carrying maximum wind speeds of 150km/h (94mph). Approximately an hour later, it made a second landfall in the city of Wenzhou, according to meteorological officials.
Across Shanghai, nearly 1,000 flights were cancelled on Monday alone. Footage circulating on state media has shown ground-floor businesses in the city’s historic former French Concession, a popular tourist area, inundated with water, with individuals seen wading through ankle-deep floods.
Governments in affected regions have issued advice for residents to avoid outdoor activities. Several prominent tourist attractions have temporarily closed, including specific sections of Shanghai Disneyland and Legoland, alongside various viewing platforms along Shanghai’s Bund waterfront.
The impact has been particularly significant in Zhejiang province. In Wenzhou, local authorities have facilitated the relocation of approximately 900,000 residents and established over 1,000 emergency shelters. In the city of Taizhou, around 390,000 people have been evacuated from their residences.
Forecasters anticipate that some parts of Zhejiang could experience between 250mm and 500mm of rain over the coming days. In Hangzhou, the provincial capital, authorities have temporarily waived parking fees in all public spaces to allow drivers to seek refuge from the high winds and rising floodwaters.
One incident reported by state media involves a nine-year-old boy from Wenling, Zhejiang, who is currently missing after reportedly being swept into the sea. Official reports from Chinese officials have not yet confirmed any casualties related to the storm.
Further along the coast in Fujian province, maritime authorities have suspended dozens of passenger ferry routes and halted more than 100 offshore construction projects as a precautionary measure.
State broadcaster CCTV reported that Typhoon Dolphin demonstrated an unusually long lifespan, traversing a distance of 6,000km before making landfall. This distance suggests a duration more than three times that of an average typhoon. The broadcaster also highlighted the storm’s substantial circulation size and its capacity for intense rainfall.
The storm's progression has also been accompanied by reports of misinformation spreading online within China. State media outlets have indicated that two individuals have been detained for disseminating such content.
One individual, identified as a 60-year-old man, was reportedly detained for creating a fabricated video using artificial intelligence. The video falsely claimed that a person had fallen from a building in Shanghai during the typhoon. In a separate incident, a 32-year-old man was detained for re-editing storm footage originally posted by other social media users in a manner deemed misleading by authorities.
Before reaching China, Typhoon Dolphin brought torrential rains to the Philippines, parts of northern Taiwan, and Japan’s Okinawa island.
In the Philippines, the Office of Civil Defence has attributed eight deaths to heavy monsoon rains exacerbated by Dolphin and earlier storms in the week. More than 7,000 people across the nation are currently sheltering in evacuation centres.
Okinawa in Japan reported five elderly individuals sustained non-life-threatening injuries, with three of them attributed to falls caused by the strong winds, according to the prefectural government.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong experienced a record high temperature of 36.9C on Sunday. The city’s weather observatory reported that the typhoon’s trajectory swept warm air over the area, contributing to the elevated temperatures.
Typhoon season in the western Pacific typically occurs between May and October. Experts have noted that this year is characterised by a strong El Niño phenomenon, which is often associated with the development of more intense typhoons.
