Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall in China as its strongest storm this year

Typhoon Dolphin, the most powerful tropical cyclone in China this year, has struck the east coast, bringing torrential rain, high winds, and warnings of flooding and landslides. The storm hit the southern Okinawa prefecture of Japan earlier, causing injuries and power outages. Reaching the Chinese coast near Yuhuan in Zhejiang province on Sunday afternoon, Dolphin brought winds of 94mph (151 km/h), equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Shanghai canceled around 1,500 flights, and Shanghai authorities moved offshore workers to safety, ordered vessels back to port, and increased checks at vulnerable locations.

Torrential rain is expected throughout Monday across several provinces, with some areas potentially receiving up to 500 mm (20 inches) of rainfall. Forecasts suggest Dolphin will track westward before weakening over central and southwestern China, potentially prolonging heavy rain and landslide risks, especially in mountainous regions and along smaller rivers.

Transport across eastern China was significantly disrupted, with over a million people evacuated from their homes. In Guangdong, a tourist named Chen, stranded after his flight was canceled, expressed that such typhoons are common for his region and not unusually severe.

In response to the storm, Zhejiang relocated over 900,000 people and opened over 1,000 emergency shelters. Fujian evacuated 98,900 people from high-risk areas, and the Qiantang, Yong, Jiao, and Shuiyang rivers faced potential major flooding. Authorities in Zhejiang issued a warning for geological disasters, advising residents in red mountain-torrent warning areas to follow evacuation orders.

Shanghai's Yangshan port cleared ships from its berths and moved more than 500 vessels to safer locations as the typhoon approached. Scientists attribute increasing extreme weather events like typhoons to global warming.