Typhoon Dolphin Brings Severe Flooding to Eastern China

Torrential rain and storms from Typhoon Dolphin have severely impacted eastern provinces of China, inundating the coastal area and flooding streets in Shanghai, the second most populated city in the country. The typhoon, with sustained winds exceeding 90 mph, made landfall in Zhejiang province, located south and west of Shanghai, on Sunday evening before weakening to a tropical storm.

The remaining rain clouds continued to drench the eastern provinces, including Anhui, Jiangsu, and Shandong, on Monday. Social media live-streams, though unverified, depicted waterlogged streets in Shanghai’s suburban Jiading and Qingpu districts, with residents wading through knee-high murky water.

As a result of the severe weather, Shanghai’s two airports had to cancel 943 flights, reducing their capacity by about 40% on Monday, according to state broadcaster CCTV. In Zhejiang’s Wenzhou, powerful winds and heavy rain overturned a truck, as shown in a TikTok video from Sunday. The fate of the driver remains unknown.

Typhoon Dolphin stands as the strongest to impact China this year, and it is expected to move further inland to the central provinces like Hubei and Henan in the coming days, while also pushing moisture north. Authorities in Beijing have heightened warnings for torrential rain and are ready to activate flood control measures on Tuesday morning.

The typhoon, which traveled over 3,700 miles before landfall, had a life-cycle three times longer than ordinary typhoons, bringing an ultra-large cloud system that covered China’s east. Its impact is being compared to Typhoon Doksuri in 2023, which brought record-breaking rainfall to Beijing after causing destruction in southeastern Fujian province.

As the storm clouds approach colder air in the north, regions such as Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei should prepare for rains extending into Thursday, as reported by CCTV.