Due to Typhoon Dolphin’s heavy rains and powerful winds, which raised concerns about landslides and flooding, over a million people have been evacuated around eastern China.
On Monday morning, Wenzhou, a seaside city in Zhejiang province, has evacuated almost 900,000 people to more than 1,500 emergency shelters. Close to 99,000 people were moved out of high-risk areas in the neighbouring Fujian.
By Sunday night, 215,600 people had been evacuated from Shanghai following the city’s heaviest 24-hour downpour in over 150 years. At the two airports in the city, almost 1,300 flights were cancelled.
As it moved more inland, Dolphin deteriorated to a tropical storm early on Monday, but forecasts cautioned that up to 400 mm of rain might fall in some areas of eastern and central China. It is anticipated that the risk of flooding and landslides, along with heavy rainfall, will continue until Wednesday.
Typhoon Doplhin puts East Asia on high alert
Typhoon Dolphin saw Chinese authorities issue the second-lowest level of emergency response, level III. On Saturday and Sunday, all water-based activities, including ferries and cruises, as well as other tourist attractions in Zhejiang were closed.
One of the biggest cities in the province, Ningbo, has also issued an order for all water-related activity to stop this weekend and for schools and other educational facilities to close. Around 800 ships were docked at the local port.
Last Friday, all domestic and international flights into and out of Japan’s Naha Airport on Okinawa Island were cancelled. According to AP, 240 people had sought refuge at evacuation facilities throughout Okinawa as of Friday noon.
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