China Evacuates Over One Million as Typhoon Dolphin Hits

Sun Sep 06 2026 01:26:55 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

One million residents are displaced after Typhoon Dolphin slammed into eastern China, shutting airports, flooding streets, and prompting mass evacuations.

Typhoon Dolphin, the sharpest storm to strike China this year, forced authorities to relocate more than one hundred thousand people from Shanghai and other eastern cities. The storm battered the region with torrential rain, halted flights, and flooded streets, prompting the deployment of over 1,000 emergency shelters and the closure of key tourist sites. While the storm has been downgraded to a tropical storm, officials warn of continued heavy rain, flooding, and landslides through Wednesday. Alongside the disaster, misinformation surged online, prompting detentions for fake video creation. The typhoon also inflicted casualties in the Philippines and caused damage across the western Pacific.

China Evacuates Over One Million as Typhoon Dolphin Hits

Chinese officials moved more than a million residents out of their homes in eastern China—including Shanghai’s financial district—after Typhoon Dolphin made landfall on Sunday evening.

The storm dumped heavy rain and crippled transport for nearly 1,000 flights canceling in Shanghai alone. Though downgraded to a tropical storm, the China Meteorological Administration warns of ongoing heavy rain, severe flooding and landslide risk as the storm pushes north until Wednesday.

Radar shows Dolphin hit Yuhuan in Zhejiang Province with peak winds of 150 km/h (94 mph), then struck Wenzhou about an hour later. Provinces such as Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai expect further rainfall on Monday.

Authorities in Zhejiang’s capital Hangzhou waived parking fees to help drivers seek shelter, while Wenzhou moved 900,000 residents to more than 1,000 shelters. In Taizhou, 390,000 people were relocated. Across Fujian, ferry routes and offshore construction projects were suspended amid strong winds.

Ground‑floor businesses in Shanghai’s former French Concession flooded to ankle‑deep, and tourists flooded streets with umbrellas—an image captured in the footage below.

People holding umbrellas along a street in Shanghai. One boy is seen trying to hold on to an inverted umbrella as winds intensify

A 60‑year‑old man was detained for producing a fake AI video claiming a Shanghai resident had fallen from a building during the storm; another 32‑year‑old was fined for shuffling user‑posted footage into misleading forms. State media emphasize careful scrutiny of viral content.

In the Philippines, eight people died due to monsoon rains and Dolphin’s onslaught, with more than 7,000 now sheltering across the nation. Thus far, no casualties have been reported in China. In Okinawa, five elderly residents suffered non‑fatal injuries, while Hong Kong recorded a 36.9°C record heat as the storm carried warm air southward.

The typhoon’s persistence—traversing an estimated 6,000 km—highlights its unusually long lifespan, surpassing the average typhoon’s duration by more than three times, according to China's state broadcaster CCTV.

Updated 1 hour ago.