Typhoon Dolphin Strikes Eastern China: One Million Evacuated as Storm Batters Zhejiang and Shanghai

Typhoon Dolphin made landfall in Yuhuan, Taizhou city, Zhejiang province, at roughly 5:30pm local time (09:30 GMT) on Sunday, August 9, 2026, carrying winds of up to 150 km/h (93 mph), according to China's meteorological authorities Al Jazeera. The storm forced more than one million people to evacuate across eastern China and brought transport in Shanghai to a near standstill, with about 40 percent of flights grounded and roughly 1,400 services cancelled on Monday, August 10.

A typhoon is the term used in the western Pacific for what Atlantic regions call a hurricane — a rotating tropical storm with sustained winds above 119 km/h. After landfall, Dolphin weakened below cyclone strength and was forecast to lose further intensity as it moved inland. By 18:00 on August 10, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) placed the system over Jiangxi province at 28.9°N, 117.8°E, with a central pressure of 990 hPa, moving northwest at 15–20 km/h. Central pressure, measured in hectopascals (hPa), is a key indicator of a storm's intensity: the lower the pressure at a cyclone's core, the stronger the system. Wang Haiping, chief forecaster at the NMC, said Dolphin was expected to continue westward before slowing over central and southwestern China and gradually dissipating.

The evacuation unfolded across several municipalities in the days before landfall. Wenzhou, in southern Zhejiang, relocated more than 900,000 residents and opened over 1,000 emergency shelters. Taizhou, near the landfall point, evacuated approximately 390,000 people before Saturday evening. Shanghai evacuated at least 30,300. In neighboring Fujian province, about 98,900 people were moved from high-risk areas after authorities raised the typhoon emergency response to Level III, as reported by Xinhua. Zhejiang province had already escalated its own emergency response to Level I — the highest tier — on Saturday night, August 8, according to provincial flood control and drought relief authorities Reuters. China's emergency response system uses four tiers, with Level I reserved for the most severe threats and triggering the broadest mobilization of resources.

The storm's impact on Shanghai was severe enough to go viral on Chinese social media. Residents circulated the hashtag "Shanghai turns into the sea" on Weibo, capturing the extent of urban flooding. Tourist attractions including parts of Disneyland and Legoland were shuttered, and viewing platforms along the Bund — the city's iconic waterfront — were closed. In Hangzhou, Zhejiang's capital, municipal authorities waived public parking fees for drivers who needed to abandon vehicles and seek shelter.

The meteorological threat extended well beyond wind damage. Forecasters warned that parts of central and eastern Zhejiang could receive 250mm to 500mm (10 to 20 inches) of rainfall in total. Torrential rain was expected across Zhejiang, Shanghai, northern Fujian, northeastern Jiangxi, central and southern Anhui, and much of Jiangsu. China's Ministry of Water Resources warned that the Qiantang, Yong, Jiao, and Shuiyang rivers could experience major flooding. Reuters separately reported that the storms raised flood risks for small and medium-sized rivers across areas of heavy rainfall Reuters. Authorities also flagged a high risk of geological disasters in parts of Zhejiang, with areas under a red mountain-torrent warning — the most severe category — and residents there told to follow local evacuation orders. A mountain-torrent warning refers to the danger of sudden, violent flood surges in mountainous areas where heavy rainfall funnels rapidly downhill through narrow valleys.

The operational response was comprehensive. Authorities ordered offshore workers to safety and vessels back to port. Inspections were stepped up at reservoirs, mountain streams, landslide-prone areas, construction sites, and tourist locations. The NMC's mid-range forecast issued at 10:00 on August 10 predicted strong rainfall extending beyond eastern China into the Huang-Huai region and North China.

Dolphin's arrival came roughly a month after Typhoon Bavi made landfall in Zhejiang in July 2026, an event that triggered the evacuation of 1.7 million people. The back-to-back strikes on the same coastal province within a single season place additional strain on regional disaster-response infrastructure and raise questions about compounding damage to flood-control systems that have not had time to fully recover. Zhejiang's Level I activation on August 8, a designation reserved for the most severe typhoon threats, reflected an approach calibrated for rapid, preemptive mobilization rather than reactive measures.

The broader context here is that China's eastern seaboard, home to some of the country's most densely populated and economically productive cities, faces a recurring typhoon exposure that climate monitoring agencies track with increasing granularity. The NMC had flagged Dolphin's approach as early as August 3, when its chief meteorologist forecast the storm would enter the East China Sea around August 7, noting multiple possible future paths. By August 7, the agency reported Dolphin was about to make landfall along the East China coast. The fact that the eventual track materialized within the forecast window will be noted by agencies reviewing the season's predictive accuracy, though single-event calibration carries limited statistical weight.

What distinguishes Dolphin from a purely meteorological standpoint is the volume of rainfall projected for interior areas. The 250–500mm range for central and eastern Zhejiang, combined with the system's forecast slowdown over central and southwestern China, means the inland flooding risk may persist well after wind impacts have subsided. River systems already saturated from Bavi's passage in July are now absorbing a second major pulse of rainfall within weeks. The Qiantang, Yong, Jiao, and Shuiyang river basins will be the critical watch points over the coming days, as the system's remnants continue to dump moisture over elevated terrain prone to mountain torrents and landslides.