Typhoon Dolphin: Over 1 Million Evacuated, Flights Cancelled Across Eastern China
Typhoon Dolphin, though weakening, caused widespread disruption across eastern China on Monday, with authorities reporting more than a million people evacuated and hundreds of flights cancelled over the past few days. The weather system made two landfalls along the coast of Zhejiang province on Sunday, losing much of its strength by Monday morning.
The National Meteorological Centre (NMC) issued its least severe typhoon alert on Monday, but warned that parts of east and central China would continue to experience heavy rain for the next day. State broadcaster CCTV said a most severe flash flood alert was issued for parts of eastern and southern Zhejiang on Monday.
In Shanghai, the city's two main passenger airports saw 943 flights cancelled, according to the airport authority. Public transport, including many local trains, was suspended in the financial hub. However, some eastern Chinese cities began restoring services as the storm moved on.
Ningbo international airport in Zhejiang resumed flight operations from midday (0400 GMT), though it cautioned that some journeys might still be delayed or cancelled because the typhoon's effects had not fully dissipated. The provincial capital Hangzhou also resumed subway services on Monday morning after halting some train operations on Sunday.
Northern China is bracing for extreme weather as well, with five districts in Beijing issuing red alerts for heavy rain on Monday, including warnings of landslide and flooding risks.
Typhoon Dolphin triggered a top-level alert over the weekend, leading to over 1,000 flight cancellations and more than a million evacuations. In the port city of Wenzhou, Zhejiang, more than 900,000 people were relocated, and over 1,500 emergency shelters were opened, CCTV reported. Additional evacuations included more than 150,000 people in Fujian province and over 200,000 in Shanghai, according to the Xinhua news agency.
This typhoon comes two weeks after Typhoon Noul struck southern Guangdong province, which authorities described as the strongest storm to hit China this year. Last month, Typhoon Maysak caused devastating floods in the southern Guangxi region, killing 39 people, and triggered thunderstorms and gale-force winds that killed 11 and injured 331 in the central province of Hubei.
Scientists have warned that the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events are likely to increase as global temperatures rise due to fossil fuel emissions. China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, is also a major renewable energy producer and has committed to making its economy carbon-neutral by 2060.
