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China’s eastern coast was bracing for Typhoon Dolphin on Sunday, with more than 1,000 flights cancelled, thousands of people evacuated and authorities issuing the country’s highest-level typhoon warning.
Nearly 1,400 flights at Shanghai’s two main airports were cancelled on Sunday, while 270 flights were suspended at Hangzhou Airport in neighbouring Zhejiang province, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Dolphin, which brought heavy rain and strong winds to Japan’s Okinawa in recent days, was expected to make landfall late Sunday or early Monday in Zhejiang or neighbouring Fujian province.
Seven people suffered minor injuries in Okinawa, including a man aged over 100 who was knocked down by strong winds and hit his head, according to the island’s government. More than 5,200 households were also without electricity by Sunday afternoon, Okinawa Electric Power said.
In Taiwan, dozens of ferry services were suspended and more than 180 flights cancelled as heavy rain and strong winds hit the northern part of the island.
China’s National Meteorological Centre issued a red typhoon alert, its most severe warning, on Sunday morning and forecast exceptionally heavy rainfall in parts of central and eastern Zhejiang.
Heavy rain was also expected in Shanghai and parts of Fujian, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces through Monday afternoon, the weather agency said.
Authorities in Fujian had relocated nearly 99,000 people from high-risk areas by Saturday evening ahead of the storm, state news agency Xinhua reported.
More than 200 ferry routes in Zhejiang and Fujian were suspended, while offshore operations were halted and 474 construction vessels ordered back to port.
Some train services in affected areas were also suspended on Sunday as authorities stepped up safety measures.
Dolphin is expected to weaken after making landfall as it moves northwest across eastern China.
The storm comes two weeks after Typhoon Noul struck southern Guangdong province, which authorities described at the time as the strongest typhoon to hit China this year. Before reaching China, Noul killed three people and damaged hundreds of homes in the Philippines.
