Typhoon Dolphin made landfall in eastern China on Sunday, bringing heavy rainfall and destructive winds to the coastal provinces [1, 2].
The storm's arrival forced one of the region's largest emergency responses this year. The scale of the evacuations and the disruption to major transport hubs like Shanghai highlight the vulnerability of China's densely populated eastern coast to intensifying tropical weather systems.
Chinese authorities oversaw the evacuation of more than one million people to avoid potential casualties from flooding and landslides [3]. The storm brought winds exceeding 100 kilometres per hour [4], which were strong enough to flip a truck in the affected areas [1].
In the Shanghai region, the weather caused significant travel chaos. Nearly 950 flights were grounded [5], though some reports listed the number as hundreds of flights [6]. The disruption comes as officials issued urgent warnings for landslides and flooding across several eastern provinces [2, 3].
While some reports classified the system as a tropical storm [1], other sources identified it as a typhoon [2]. Regardless of the classification, the resulting precipitation triggered widespread flood warnings that necessitated the mass movement of residents from high-risk zones [1, 3].
Emergency crews remain on alert as the storm weakens, focusing on assessing damage to infrastructure and managing the return of displaced populations. Local authorities said the priority remains the safety of residents in landslide-prone areas as the soil remains saturated from the heavy rains.
“More than one million people evacuated”
The scale of the evacuation for Typhoon Dolphin underscores the Chinese government's shift toward preemptive mass movement to reduce death tolls during the typhoon season. The significant grounding of flights in Shanghai demonstrates how a single weather event can paralyze one of the world's busiest aviation hubs, impacting both regional logistics and international travel.
