China evacuates ONE MILLION people as Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall bringing 100mph gales and grounding 1,000 flights

CHINA has evacuated more than one million people as Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall, bringing devastation with it. Several provinces in the east of the country have been hit by torrential rain and storms with around 100mph gales, stopping 40 per cent of flights. A delivery rider battles his way through deep water on Lingling Road in Shanghai Credit: Getty Strong winds have ripped through Yueqing City in east China’s Zhejiang Province Credit: Getty Dolphin, China’s most powerful typhoon so far this year, packed maximum sustained winds of 151kph (93.8mph) near its centre when it made landfall in Zhejiang, the province to the south and west of Shanghai, on Sunday evening before weakening to a tropical storm. Its remaining rain clouds continued to soak the eastern provinces including Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong on Monday. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Many streets in Shanghai, the country’s second most populous city, were flooded, including in the main commercial centres. The city’s two airports cancelled a total of 943 flights due to the typhoon, reducing capacity by nearly 40 per cent, state broadcaster CCTV said. A rescue worker tries to clear a waterlogged road in Changzhou, east China’s Jiangsu Province Credit: Alamy A car is pinned by a fallen scaffolding structure after Typhoon Dolphin hit Wenzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province Credit: AP China Eastern Airlines said on Monday it was trying to resume flights to Shanghai, Zhejiang and other destinations in an “orderly manner.” Shanghai also suspended some of its metro lines on Monday, and China Railway Chengdu Group suspended 115 trains, state news agency Xinhua reported. Many streets in Shanghai’s suburban Jiading and Qingpu districts around the city centre remained waterlogged, according to live-streams shared by residents on social media. The live videos showed people wading through knee-high murky water. Most read in The Sun A Shanghai resident wades through floodwaters in a residential area Credit: Getty Flooded villages and farmland in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province Credit: Getty Hou Lina, 38, who works in sales in Jiading in Shanghai said: “It rained almost all-night last night. “When I woke up this morning, I found the neighbourhood flooded, and the streets were severely flooded.” She added: “I’ve lived in Shanghai for 10 years, and this is the first time I’ve experienced such inconvenience from a typhoon. “This is the first time I’ve encountered such widespread flooding.” Eastern China has been devastated by Typhoon Dolphin A man battles against the gale-force winds in Yuhuan, China’s Zhejiang Province Credit: Alamy In Shanghai’s Jinshan, the district authority said non-essential businesses and organisations could temporarily halt operations, classes, outdoor events and transit services, amid forecasts of continued strong winds and heavy rain on Monday. Authorities warned of risks of severe flooding and landslides in some areas. State broadcaster CCTV reported that authorities in Yueqing, a city in Zhejiang province, searched for people trapped in flooded homes. Powerful winds and lashing rain flipped over a truck in Zhejiang’s Wenzhou, a video posted on TikTok on Sunday showed. It was not clear what happened to the driver. Authorities warned that 74 rivers in the Taihu Lake basin and the coastal areas of eastern Zhejiang have exceeded warning levels, and that flood risks for small and medium-sized rivers in heavy rainfall areas are high. Dolphin is forecast to move deeper inland to the central provinces of Hubei and Henan in the coming days while also pushing moisture north. Authorities in the capital Beijing raised warnings for torrential rain and said the city was prepared to activate its flood control response on Tuesday morning. Beijing is expected to experience “significant rainfall” from Tuesday until Thursday, with authorities warning of the risk of flash floods in the city and landslides in the surrounding mountainous areas. The typhoon had already travelled 3,728 miles before it made landfall, giving it a life-cycle three times longer than an ordinary typhoon, and bringing with it an ultra-large cloud system that enveloped China’s east, CCTV said in another report. Dolphin’s impact was also being compared to Doksuri in 2023. That typhoon crossed the country after causing destruction in southeastern Fujian province, unleashing record-breaking rainfall in Beijing. As the storm clouds meet colder air in the north, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei will need to brace for heavy rain into Thursday, CCTV said. Hong Kong, on China’s southern coast, has seen extreme heat due to Dolphin, recording its hottest day ever on Sunday at 36.9C, the highest since records began in 1884, according to the Hong Kong Observatory, the territory’s weather body. TSR (Tropical Storm Risk) said it expected the 2026 northwest Pacific typhoon season to be one of the most active on record and to include 28 tropical storms, 20 typhoons and 13 intense typhoons. TSR said the ongoing strong El Nino event, high activity to date and weaker-than-normal trade winds across the northwest Pacific basin, were key reasons for the intensity of the typhoon season. Elsewhere, Tropical Storm Chan-hom was heading toward Japan’s Pacific coast. The storm had 51 mph winds on Monday morning and was forecast to strengthen slightly before landfall Tuesday into Wednesday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Comment now