Typhoon Dolphin evacuations top one million in Shanghai and eastern China

Typhoon Dolphin evacuations top one million in Shanghai and eastern China

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Chinese authorities have evacuated more than a million people from their homes in eastern China, including in Shanghai, after Typhoon Dolphin made landfall, according to meteorological authorities and state media reports.

The storm packed maximum wind speeds of about 150km/h (94mph) when it first struck Yuhuan in Zhejiang province at around 17:30 local time on Sunday, before making a second landfall in Wenzhou about an hour later, officials said.

Transport was heavily disrupted across the region. In Shanghai alone, about 1,400 flights were cancelled as the typhoon moved through, while local governments urged residents to avoid outdoor activities as severe weather continued.

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Authorities initially issued a top-level red alert for Dolphin, but by Monday morning it was downgraded to a tropical storm. Even so, warnings remained in place for torrential rain, severe flooding and possible landslides through to Wednesday.

Heavy rain was forecast for parts of Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, as well as Shanghai. Forecasters said some areas of Zhejiang could receive between 250mm and 500mm of rain over the coming days.

Several tourist sites in Shanghai were closed, including parts of Disneyland and Legoland, along with viewing platforms along the Bund. State media footage showed flooding in some ground-floor businesses in the former French Concession, a well-known tourist area, and residents walking through ankle-deep water.

State media also reported that a nine-year-old boy in Wenling, Zhejiang, was missing after being swept into the sea. Chinese officials had not reported any casualties at the time of the reports.

In Zhejiang, Wenzhou authorities said they had relocated about 900,000 residents and opened more than 1,000 emergency shelters. In Taizhou, officials said about 390,000 people had been evacuated from their homes.

In neighbouring Fujian province, maritime authorities suspended dozens of passenger ferry routes and halted more than 100 offshore construction projects as the storm approached the coast.

China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported that Dolphin travelled about 6,000km before making landfall, suggesting it had lasted more than three times longer than an average typhoon, with a large circulation and intense rainfall potential.

Chinese state media also said misinformation linked to the storm spread online, reporting that two people were detained. One, a 60-year-old man, was said to have created a fake AI-generated video claiming someone in Shanghai had fallen from a building during the storm. Another man, aged 32, was said to have re-edited storm footage posted by other users in a way authorities considered misleading.

Before reaching China, Dolphin brought torrential rain to the Philippines and affected parts of northern Taiwan and Japan’s Okinawa. The Philippines’ Office of Civil Defence said eight people died due to heavy monsoon rains linked to Dolphin and earlier storms, and that more than 7,000 people were sheltering at evacuation centres.

In Okinawa, the prefectural government said five elderly people suffered non-life-threatening injuries, with three falling in strong winds. In Hong Kong, the weather observatory recorded a temperature of 36.9C on Sunday, as the storm swept warm air over the city.

Typhoon season in the western Pacific typically runs from May to October. Experts have noted that this year’s strong El Niño conditions can contribute to more intense typhoons.

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