Typhoon Dolphin Slams Into East China, Forcing More Than a Million People to Flee

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A Storm Years in the Making

Typhoon Dolphin came ashore near the town of Yuhuan in Zhejiang province at around 5:30 p.m. local time on Sunday, China's meteorological authorities confirmed. At landfall, the storm carried sustained winds of about 151 km/h (94 mph), roughly equal to a Category 1 hurricane.

Forecasters had called Dolphin an unusual storm. It formed far out near the International Date Line and traveled an unusually long distance before reaching China, which meteorologists described as a rare occurrence in the historical record.

Before reaching China, the typhoon had already caused damage in Japan. It swept through Okinawa in the country's south, injuring six people and cutting electricity to tens of thousands of homes.

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Mass Evacuations Across the Coast

Chinese authorities did not wait to act. Offshore workers were brought to safety, ships were ordered back into harbor, and inspectors checked reservoirs, mountain streams, and construction sites for risks well before the storm hit land.

In total, more than one million people along the coast were moved out of harm's way. The city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang alone relocated more than 900,000 residents and opened over 1,000 emergency shelters. In neighboring Fujian province, nearly 99,000 people were evacuated from high-risk zones.

Shanghai, one of the country's busiest hubs, also felt the impact early. The city evacuated more than 30,000 residents and canceled roughly 1,500 flights, according to flight-tracking data. At the massive Yangshan port, more than 500 small and medium-sized vessels were moved to sheltered waters.

Ferry services were hit hard as well: dozens of coastal passenger routes were suspended, and construction work at more than a hundred offshore sites was halted as a precaution.

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Heavy Rain and Flood Risk Still Ahead

The danger from Dolphin is far from over. Forecasters expect torrential rain through Monday across a wide stretch of eastern China, including Zhejiang, Shanghai, northern Fujian, and parts of Jiangsu and Anhui. Some areas could see up to 500 millimeters (nearly 20 inches) of rain — and other estimates put the highest local totals even higher, above 600 millimeters.

After moving inland, the storm is expected to slow down over central and southwestern China as it gradually weakens. That slower pace could actually make things worse in some places, since it gives rain more time to fall over the same areas, raising the risk of flash floods and landslides, especially in the mountains and along smaller rivers.

Chinese water authorities warned that several major rivers, including the Qiantang and the Yong, could see serious flooding. Officials also issued red-level warnings for mountain torrents in the hardest-hit parts of Zhejiang, urging residents there to follow evacuation orders without delay.

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A Storm That Fits a Bigger Pattern

For many residents on China's storm-hardened southern and eastern coasts, typhoons are simply part of life. One evacuated traveler from Guangdong, stranded in Shanghai after his flight was canceled, said storms like this feel almost routine where he comes from — even as his own family waited anxiously for a rebooked flight the next night.

But scientists caution that routine does not mean harmless. Researchers have linked rising global temperatures to more powerful tropical storms, warning that events like Dolphin may become more frequent — and more intense — in the years ahead.

As of Sunday evening, four provinces and the city of Shanghai had activated Level III emergency responses, and authorities said monitoring would continue closely as Dolphin pushes further inland.

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Sources

1. Reuters — https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/typhoon-dolphin-set-hit-chinas-east-coast-triggering-flood-warnings-2026-08-09/
2. Al Jazeera — https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/8/typhoon-dolphin-hits-japan-heads-towards-china
3. Fox Weather — https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/typhoon-dolphin-china-damaging-winds-flooding

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