In eastern China, regional officials relocated hundreds of thousands of residents ahead of Typhoon Dolphin, forcing Shanghai’s two primary airports to call off upwards of 1,300 flights on Sunday. The oncoming storm had already drenched northern parts of Taiwan.
On Saturday, the typhoon’s outer rain bands lashed northern Taiwan, including the capital city of Taipei, prompting multiple Taiwanese carriers to call off their scheduled Sunday flights to the mainland.
Meteorological reports on Sunday morning indicated that the storm carried peak sustained wind speeds of roughly 162 kilometres per hour (101 mph).
Dolphin was projected to dump torrential rain and elevate the threat of mudslides and inundation as it drew closer to Zhejiang province and northern areas of neighbouring Fujian province later that day.
National weather forecasters warned that cumulative rainfall could reach between 200 and 400 millimetres (7.9 to 15.7 inches) in certain localities over the coming days, driving Zhejiang officials to issue mudslide alerts.
According to the state-run media outlet The Paper, both Pudong and Hongqiao airports in Shanghai grounded roughly 60 per cent of their scheduled Sunday flights.
Preemptive relocation efforts saw Zhejiang administrators evacuate approximately 390,000 people from high-risk areas in Taizhou on Saturday night, whilst municipal authorities in Shanghai shifted over 30,000 residents out of vulnerable zones.
As a safety measure, Zhejiang administrators suspended all water-borne transit and recreational services, including ferry operations and cruises. The anticipation of landfall and severe downpours led regional governments to bolster their emergency readiness, particularly in areas highly susceptible to flooding and landslides.
