China evacuates one million from homes as massive storm arrives

More than a million residents in eastern China, including Shanghai, were evacuated amid the arrival of Typhoon Dolphin. The powerful storm made landfall in Yuhuan, Zhejiang province, with maximum wind speeds of 150km/h before striking Wenzhou an hour later. Transportation across the region was severely disrupted, with 1,400 flights cancelled in Shanghai alone.

Chinese authorities initially issued a red alert for Dolphin but later downgraded it to a tropical storm by Monday morning. The storm is now moving inland and authorities predict torrential rains, severe flooding, and landslides through Wednesday. Heavy rain was forecast for several provinces, including Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai.

Local governments urged people to avoid outdoor activities, and several top tourist attractions, such as parts of Disneyland and Legoland, as well as viewing platforms along Shanghai's Bund, remained closed. State media footage showed ground-floor businesses flooded in Shanghai's French Concession area, and people walking through ankle-deep waters.

Tragically, a nine-year-old boy from Wenling, Zhejiang, is reported missing after being swept into the sea. However, Chinese officials have not reported any casualties. Parts of Zhejiang could receive between 250mm and 500mm of rain over the next few days.

Authorities in Hangzhou, Zhejiang’s capital city, waived parking fees in public spaces to encourage drivers to seek shelter. In Wenzhou, 900,000 residents were relocated, and over 1,000 emergency shelters were opened. About 390,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Taizhou. In Fujian province, maritime authorities suspended numerous ferry routes and halted over 100 offshore construction projects.

Misinformation about the storm spread rapidly on Chinese social media, leading to the detention of two individuals for creating misleading content. One was a 60-year-old man who fabricated an AI-generated video claiming someone fell from a building in Shanghai, while another 32-year-old man edited storm footage to appear misleading.

Typhoon Dolphin traveled a substantial distance of 6,000km before making landfall, indicating a lifespan more than three times that of an average typhoon, according to China’s state broadcaster CCTV. The storm also possessed a massive circulation size and intense rainfall capacity.