Chinese authorities have evacuated more than a million people from their homes in eastern China, including Shanghai, after Typhoon Dolphin made landfall.
The typhoon brought heavy rainfall and halted transportation across the region, leading to the cancellation of nearly 1,000 flights in Shanghai alone on Monday.
Although Dolphin was downgraded to a tropical storm, officials warned that torrential rains, severe flooding and landslide risks will persist through Wednesday as the storm moves north.
Earlier in the week, the storm received China’s highest red alert, the strongest this year, after it hit Zhejiang province with maximum wind speeds of 150 km/h (94 mph) and later struck Wenzhou.
Heavy rain was forecast for provinces such as Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.
Governments urged people to avoid outdoor activities, noting that many tourist sites, including Disneyland and Legoland, were closed and viewing platforms along Shanghai’s Bund were shut down.
Footage circulated on state media shows ground-floor businesses flooded in Shanghai’s French Concession, while residents waded through ankle‑deep water.
Authorities reported that a nine‑year‑old boy from Wenling, Zhejiang is missing after being swept into the sea, though no casualties have been confirmed.
In Zhejiang, officials anticipated 250–500 mm of rain over the next few days; Hangzhou waived parking fees at public spaces, while Wenzhou relocated 900,000 residents and opened more than 1,000 emergency shelters.
Home to 400,000 people in Taizhou, the city also experienced mass evacuations.
Fujian’s maritime authorities suspended dozens of passenger ferry routes and halted over 100 offshore construction projects due to the storm.
Social media misinformation surged after the hurricane suggested that a Shanghai resident fell from a building and re‑edited footage for misleading purposes; two men were detained for distributing such content.
Typhoon Dolphin also brought heavy monsoon rains to the Philippines, northern Taiwan and Japan’s Okinawa island.
In the Philippines, eight deaths have been reported, and over 7,000 people are sheltering at evacuation centres nationwide.
Okinawa’s local government recorded five non‑life‑threatening injuries among elderly residents due to the strong winds, while Hong Kong posted a record high temperature of 36.9 °C as the storm passed.
Typhoon season in the western Pacific runs from May to October; the 2026 El Niño year is expected to intensify storms such as Dolphin.
Large‑scale coverage continues as the storm covers a 6,000 km path, making it one of the longest‑lasting typhoons in recent memory.
