China evacuates one million from homes as massive storm arrives

Chinese officials have relocated over a million individuals from their residences in eastern China, including Shanghai, as Typhoon Dolphin made contact with land. The storm brought intense rainfall and ceased transportation throughout the region. Approximately 1,000 flights were suspended in Shanghai on Monday. Despite the downgrade to a tropical storm, authorities continue to warn of heavy rains, severe flooding, and landslide risks through Wednesday.

Earlier, Chinese authorities issued a red alert as Typhoon Dolphin, the strongest storm this year in China, hit Yuhuan in Zhejiang province at 17:30 (09:30 GMT) on Sunday, swiftly making a second landfall in Wenzhou an hour later. The typhoon will bring heavy rain to Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai.

Governments have advised against outdoor activities, and several notable tourist attractions, including portions of Disneyland and Legoland, along with several viewing platforms along Shanghai's Bund, remain closed. Footage on state media shows ground-floor businesses submerged in waters in Shanghai’s former French Concession, an area frequented by tourists, and people wading through ankle-deep water.

A nine-year-old boy from Wenling in Zhejiang is reported missing after being swept into the sea. However, Chinese officials have not reported any casualties. Parts of Zhejiang may receive up to 500mm of rain over the next few days. In Hangzhou, the provincial capital, parking fees in public spaces have been waived for drivers seeking shelter amid the strong winds and floodwaters.

Meanwhile, Wenzhou authorities have shifted around 900,000 residents and established more than 1,000 emergency shelters, while approximately 390,000 individuals have been evacuated from their homes in Taizhou. The storm spanned a vast 6,000km before making landfall, indicating a lifespan over three times that of an average typhoon, according to China's state broadcaster CCTV.

Its massive circulation size and intense rainfall capacity make it one of the most powerful storms in recent years. Misinformation surrounding the storm has quickly proliferated on the Chinese internet, with two individuals detained for distributing false content, including a 60-year-old man who created an AI-generated video claiming someone fell from a building during the storm, and a 32-year-old man who altered storm footage posted by others on social media.

Typhoon Dolphin also caused heavy rainfall in the Philippines, northern Taiwan, and Japan's Okinawa island before reaching China. Eight people have died in the Philippines due to the storm's heavy monsoon rains, while over 7,000 people are staying in evacuation centers. In Okinawa, Japan, five elderly people sustained non-life-threatening injuries due to strong winds.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, a weather observatory recorded a record high temperature of 36.9C on Sunday as the typhoon brought warm air to the city. Typhoon season in the western Pacific generally runs from May to October, with an exceptionally strong El Niño year, leading to more intense typhoons than usual.