More than one million people have been evacuated from their homes across eastern China, including Shanghai, after Typhoon Dolphin made landfall with powerful winds and torrential rain.
The storm first struck Yuhuan in Zhejiang province at around 5.30pm local time, bringing maximum winds of 150km/h (94mph). About an hour later, it made a second landfall near the city of Wenzhou, according to meteorological authorities.
The typhoon severely disrupted transportation across the region, with around 1,400 flights cancelled in Shanghai alone. Authorities had earlier issued their highest-level red alert for the storm before downgrading it to a tropical storm on Monday morning.
Although Dolphin has weakened, officials continue to warn of heavy rainfall, flooding and landslides through Wednesday. Severe rain has been forecast across several provinces, including Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as well as Shanghai.
In Wenzhou, around 900,000 residents have been relocated and more than 1,000 emergency shelters opened. Another 390,000 people have been evacuated in Taizhou, while authorities in Hangzhou have waived parking fees at public facilities to provide motorists with safer places to shelter.
Tourist attractions have also been affected, with parts of Disneyland and Legoland closed alongside several viewing platforms along Shanghai’s Bund. State media footage showed flooded ground-floor businesses and residents wading through ankle-deep water in parts of the city.
A nine-year-old boy from Wenling, Zhejiang, was reportedly missing after being swept into the sea, although Chinese authorities had not reported any confirmed deaths linked to the storm at the time of reporting.
Forecasters said parts of Zhejiang could receive between 250mm and 500mm of rain over the coming days.
The storm also disrupted maritime activities in Fujian, where dozens of passenger ferry routes were suspended and more than 100 offshore construction projects halted.
China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported that Dolphin travelled around 6,000km before making landfall, giving it an unusually long lifespan compared with an average typhoon. The storm was also described as having a large circulation and significant rainfall potential.
Meanwhile, authorities have warned against the spread of misinformation surrounding the disaster. Two people were reportedly detained over misleading online content, including an AI-generated video falsely claiming someone had fallen from a building in Shanghai during the storm.
Dolphin also brought heavy rain to the Philippines, northern Taiwan and Japan’s Okinawa. Eight people were reported dead in the Philippines following monsoon rains associated with Dolphin and other storms, while more than 7,000 people were sheltering in evacuation centres.
In Okinawa, five elderly residents suffered non-life-threatening injuries, with three reportedly falling due to strong winds.
Hong Kong also recorded a record-high temperature of 36.9°C on Sunday as the typhoon pushed warm air over the city.
Typhoon activity in the western Pacific is generally more common between May and October, while weather experts have warned that strong El Niño conditions can contribute to more intense storms.
