Typhoon Dolphin Hits China, Forcing One Million Evacuations

Dolphin was unusual in both scale and endurance. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV (China Central Television) said the system travelled roughly 6,000 kilometres before reaching land, giving it a lifespan more than three times that of an average typhoon, and noted its exceptionally large circulation and heavy rainfall capacity. Its effects reached far beyond the mainland. The outer bands brushed northern Taiwan, including Taipei, on Saturday, prompting some Taiwanese carriers to cancel flights to China. Although Dolphin never came ashore in the Philippines, it intensified seasonal monsoon rains that flooded much of northern Luzon and metropolitan Manila, displacing more than 12,000 people.

The disruption on the mainland was severe. Shanghai's Hongqiao and Pudong airports cancelled roughly 60 percent of Sunday's scheduled flights, more than 1,300 by The Washington Times' count, while the BBC reported 1,400 cancellations in Shanghai as a whole. Wenzhou relocated some 900,000 residents and opened more than 1,000 emergency shelters, while about 390,000 people left their homes in Taizhou. Sections of Disneyland and Legoland closed, along with viewing platforms on Shanghai's Bund, and state media footage showed ankle-deep water in the former French Concession. Hangzhou waived public parking fees for drivers seeking shelter, and maritime authorities in Fujian suspended dozens of ferry routes. Several state outlets reported a nine-year-old boy missing in Wenling after being swept out to sea, though officials have not reported any casualties. Forecasters warned of torrential rain and landslides through Wednesday, with parts of Zhejiang expected to receive 250 to 500 millimetres of rain.