Typhoon Dolphin Hits China — What Happened and Why It Matters
Typhoon Dolphin struck the coast of China near the city of Yuhuan in Zhejiang province at about 5:30 p.m. local time on 9 August 2026. It was the strongest storm to hit the country this year, with winds reaching 94 mph (151 km/h). That is roughly as powerful as a Category 1 hurricane. The Guardian
A typhoon is the same kind of storm as a hurricane — the name just depends on where it forms. Typhoons happen in the western Pacific, while hurricanes form in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific.
Before reaching China, Dolphin passed through Japan's Okinawa prefecture, injuring six people and cutting power to more than 50,000 buildings. Japan's weather agency, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), had classified Dolphin as a Large, Very Strong Typhoon earlier on 8 August. By that evening, the agency downgraded it to a Large Tropical Storm as it moved away from Japan. Japan Meteorological Agency
China's response was enormous. More than one million people were evacuated from their homes across eastern China. In Zhejiang province, the city of Wenzhou alone relocated over 900,000 residents and opened more than 1,000 emergency shelters. Shanghai evacuated at least 30,300 people and cancelled about 1,500 flights, according to flight-tracking company VariFlight. Shanghai's Yangshan port also moved more than 500 boats to safer waters. In the neighbouring province of Fujian, authorities evacuated 98,900 people, stopped 55 ferry routes, halted all 115 offshore construction projects, and moved 290 construction vessels to sheltered areas. The Guardian; Xinhua
China uses a tiered warning system for emergencies, with Level I being the most serious and Level IV the least. For Typhoon Dolphin, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) raised the national response to Level II. Zhejiang province went all the way to Level I, the highest tier, as did Shanghai. Fujian raised its response to Level II, Jiangsu to Level III, and Anhui to Level IV. The National Meteorological Centre also issued a red typhoon warning, which is China's most severe alert level. CMA
Heavy rain and flooding remain a serious concern. Forecasters say parts of Zhejiang could get 250 to 500 mm (10 to 20 inches) of rain. China's water resources ministry warned that several rivers — the Qiantang, Yong, Jiao, and Shuiyang — could see major flooding. Wang Haiping, chief forecaster at the National Meteorological Centre, said Dolphin would move westward, slow down over central and south-western China, and gradually lose strength. The Guardian
The broader context is that China's eastern coast gets hit by typhoons every year, and this coastline is packed with important infrastructure — major ports, factories, and huge cities stretching from Fujian through Zhejiang to Shanghai. The large-scale evacuations and port-clearing operations show how China handles these storms: move people out early and protect ships and industrial facilities before the storm arrives. The storm weakened a lot between Okinawa and the Chinese coast, which commonly happens as typhoons pass over cooler water or hit land. But even after a typhoon weakens at the coast, the rain it carries can cause dangerous flooding far inland, especially when moist air is pushed up by hills and mountains and dumps its water. That is why authorities activated every level of their emergency response across six regions — they were preparing not just for coastal damage, but for flooding that could reach communities hundreds of miles from where Dolphin came ashore.
