China evacuates one million from homes as massive storm arrives

Over one million individuals have been displaced from their residences in eastern China, encompassing Shanghai, due to Typhoon Dolphin's arrival on Sunday evening. This typhoon initially struck Yuhuan in the Zhejiang province at 17:30 (09:30 GMT), followed by a second landfall in Wenzhou around an hour later, according to meteorological sources.

The storm disrupted transportation across the region, with 1,400 flights canceled in Shanghai alone. Initially, Chinese authorities issued a red alert for Dolphin, but by Monday morning, they downgraded it to a tropical storm. The storm is now advancing inland within China, and authorities continue to warn residents about imminent torrential rains, severe flooding, and the threat of landslides through Wednesday.

Heavy rain was predicted for the provinces of Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai on Monday. Local governments have urged citizens to refrain from outdoor activities, and several prominent tourist attractions, including sections of Disneyland and Legoland, and several viewing platforms along Shanghai's Bund, remain closed.

State media footage depicts ground-floor businesses submerged in Shanghai's former French Concession, an area frequented by tourists, and people navigating through ankle-deep waters. Reports from state media outlets indicate that a nine-year-old boy from Wenling, Zhejiang, is missing after being carried into the sea. However, Chinese officials have not reported any fatalities.

Forecasts suggest that parts of Zhejiang may receive between 250mm and 500mm of rain over the next few days. In Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang, parking fees have been waived at all public spaces for those seeking refuge amid the strong winds and floodwaters. Additionally, Wenzhou authorities have relocated approximately 900,000 residents and established over 1,000 emergency shelters, while around 390,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Taizhou.

The coastal province of Fujian has suspended numerous passenger ferry routes and halted more than 100 offshore construction projects. The storm traveled a considerable distance of 6,000km before making landfall, which suggests a lifespan more than three times that of an average typhoon, as reported by China’s state broadcaster CCTV.

Moreover, the storm possesses a substantial circulation size and a high capacity for intense rainfall, as per CCTV. Misinformation surrounding the storm has rapidly proliferated on the Chinese internet, with state media reporting that two individuals have been detained for disseminating such content. One of them, a 60-year-old man, fabricated an AI-generated video claiming that someone in Shanghai had fallen from a building during the storm.

Another man, aged 32, had altered storm footage posted by other social media users in a manner deemed misleading. Typhoon Dolphin had already caused torrential rains in the Philippines, certain sections of northern Taiwan, and Japan’s Okinawa Island before heading towards China.