Typhoon Dolphin Triggers Mass Evacuations and Record Rainfall in Eastern China

Typhoon Dolphin made two landfalls in China's Zhejiang province on Sunday evening, forcing the evacuation of between one million and 1.6 million people. The storm first hit near Yuhuan with maximum wind speeds of approximately 150 kilometers per hour before making a second landfall in the Wenzhou area. In Wenzhou, authorities relocated about 900,000 residents, while another 390,000 were evacuated from Taizhou. Additional evacuations occurred in Shanghai and Fujian province.

The storm caused significant transportation disruptions. Shanghai's Pudong and Hongqiao airports canceled between 943 and 1,400 flights, depending on the reporting source. Four metro lines in Shanghai were halted, and several ferry routes in Fujian were suspended. In Shanghai, some areas experienced flooding that submerged ground floor businesses and forced residents to walk through ankle deep water. One report noted that rainfall in parts of Shanghai reached levels not seen in over 150 years.

Chinese authorities initially issued a red alert, the highest level, but downgraded the system to a tropical storm by Monday morning. Despite the downgrade, warnings for torrential rains, flooding, and landslides remained in effect through Wednesday for several provinces, including Anhui and Hubei. In Zhejiang, a nine year old boy was reported missing after being swept into the sea, though official casualties within China have not been confirmed. Before reaching China, the storm caused heavy rain in northern Taiwan and Japan's Okinawa island, where five elderly people suffered non life threatening injuries. In the Philippines, the storm intensified monsoon rains that contributed to landslides and floods, resulting in eight deaths and the displacement of thousands.

Chinese state media highlighted the unusual nature of the storm, noting it traveled 6000 kilometers and remained active three times longer than average typhoons. Authorities also detained two men for spreading misinformation on the internet, including one individual who used artificial intelligence to create a fake video of a person falling from a building in Shanghai. Some analysts suggest that a strong El Niño phenomenon may be contributing to the intensity of this year's typhoons.