Typhoon Dolphin Bears Down on China's East Coast; 1M+ Evacuated

Typhoon Dolphin is bearing down on China's east coast, and the machinery of evacuation is already in motion. More than a million people have been moved to safety as authorities across six provinces prepare for what will be the year's most powerful storm to make landfall on Chinese soil. The typhoon is expected to arrive Sunday evening with sustained winds reaching 162 kilometers per hour—the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane—before it weakens and tracks inland, where it may linger and cause prolonged damage.

The storm has already left its mark. In Japan's Okinawa prefecture, Dolphin injured six people and cut electricity to more than 50,000 buildings before moving westward across the sea. Chinese authorities, watching its approach, have been methodical in their preparations. Offshore workers have been brought to shore. Fishing vessels and cargo ships have been ordered back to port. Reservoir operators have intensified their monitoring. Mountain streams, areas prone to landslides, construction sites, and tourist destinations are all under heightened alert.

The rainfall forecast is staggering in its intensity. Across Zhejiang, Shanghai, northern Fujian, northeastern Jiangxi, central and southern Anhui, and much of Jiangsu, torrential rain is expected through August 10. In the hardest-hit portions of central and eastern Zhejiang, some areas could receive between 250 and 500 millimeters of rain—nearly 20 inches in some places. Wang Haiping, chief forecaster at China's National Meteorological Centre, told state television that after landfall, the storm will track westward and then slow over central and southwestern China, a trajectory that could trap heavy rain over vulnerable terrain for days.

In Shanghai, authorities have evacuated at least 30,300 people and canceled roughly 1,500 flights. The city's Yangshan port, one of the world's busiest container terminals, has cleared its berths and moved more than 500 small and medium-sized vessels to shelter. In neighboring Zhejiang province, the city of Wenzhou has relocated more than 900,000 residents alone and opened more than 1,000 emergency shelters. Fujian province has evacuated 98,900 people from high-risk coastal areas and suspended 55 passenger ferry routes. All 115 offshore construction projects in the province have been halted, and 290 construction vessels have been moved to protected waters.

The water resources ministry has identified four major rivers—the Qiantang, Yong, Jiao, and Shuiyang—as likely to experience significant flooding. Smaller rivers in the most exposed areas could rise above warning levels. Authorities have issued red-level mountain-torrent warnings for parts of Zhejiang, telling residents in those zones to follow evacuation orders without delay. The risk of geological disasters—landslides, debris flows, ground collapse—is rated as high across vulnerable mountainous terrain.

For some, the approaching storm is routine. Chen, a 44-year-old tourist from Guangdong province, found himself stranded in Shanghai after his family's Sunday evening flight was canceled. Rebooked for Monday at 10 p.m., he expressed uncertainty about whether that flight would depart. To him and others from China's southern coast, where typhoons arrive with seasonal regularity, Dolphin seemed unremarkable. "To us Guangdong people, this typhoon is as ordinary as having a meal and feeling the wind," he said. "It's just part of everyday life." For the million people now sheltering in emergency facilities across eastern China, however, the next 48 hours will test whether preparation and evacuation can hold back what nature is about to deliver.