In brief
Typhoon Dolphin struck eastern China, prompting the evacuation of over a million people and the cancellation of some 1,000 flights in Shanghai. Officials warned of severe flooding, landslides and heavy rain until Wednesday, issuing a red alert as the storm made landfall in Zhejiang. The storm disrupted transportation, closed major tourist sites and caused flooding in the French Concession area. While no casualties were reported by Chinese authorities, a nine‑year‑old boy from Zhejiang was reported missing, and misinformation about the typhoon spread online. The storm also impacted the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan, contributing to heavy rains and casualties across the region.
Chinese authorities evacuated more than 1 million people from their homes, including the financial hub of Shanghai, after Typhoon Dolphin slammed into the eastern coast on Sunday evening. The severe storm triggered heavy rainfall, halted transportation and led to the cancellation of roughly 1,000 flights in Shanghai.
Even though the storm has slowly downgraded to a tropical storm, officials continue to warn that torrential rain, severe flooding and landslides could persist through Wednesday, as the cyclone moved northward.
The storm, one of the strongest to hit China this year, delivered a maximum wind speed of 150 km/h (94 mph) when it first struck Yuhuan in Zhejiang province at 17:30 local time on Sunday, before making a second landfall in Wenzhou an hour later.
Heavy rain is expected across Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, with Zhejiang likely seeing 250–500 mm of rainfall over the next few days.
Local authorities urged residents to avoid outdoor activities; tourist attractions such as Disneyland, Legoland and shops on the Bund remain closed. Several state‑media outlets have shown flooded ground‑floor businesses in Shanghai’s former French Concession and people wading through ankle‑deep water.
A 60‑year‑old man was detained for distributing a fake video claiming a Shanghai resident had fallen from a building during the storm, and a 32‑year‑old man was detained for editing storm footage in a misleading way.
The storm’s reach extends beyond China, bringing torrential rains to the Philippines, parts of northern Taiwan and Japan’s Okinawa before striking China.
Eight deaths in the Philippines have been attributed to monsoon rains linked to Dolphin, while the Hong Kong weather observatory recorded a record high temperature of 36.9 °C during the typhoon sweep.
With a strong El Niño year, experts say the 2026 typhoon season could see storms grow to be more intense than usual.
