Typhoon Dolphin batters Okinawa, triggers mass evacuations in Japan

Typhoon Dolphin lashed Japan's southern Okinawa prefecture on Saturday, injuring six people and knocking out power to more than 50,000 buildings as China shut ports and ferries ahead of the storm. The twin responses showed how the same slow-moving typhoon forced one country into immediate recovery work and the other into preemptive shutdowns to protect ships, cargo and coastal infrastructure.

In Japan, officials ordered evacuations for about 260,000 people across Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures as the storm pushed into the country's southwest. More than 500 flights were canceled, with Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways accounting for around 500 of them, and several bullet train lines, including the Tokaido line, faced disruption. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the typhoon was just north of Okinawa's main island on Friday afternoon, with maximum winds of 89 mph, a strength that made coastal flooding, flight cancellations and ferry suspensions immediate risks.

The power damage was spread unevenly across the islands and southern Japan. Reuters later reported that about 39,000 outages were in Kagoshima and just over 12,000 were in Okinawa, where wind and rain hit the island chain first. The storm's reach also strained tourism and daily travel across the region, where airports, rail lines and ferries are essential links between the islands and the mainland.

Across the East China Sea, China's response focused on stopping disruption before the storm arrived. Authorities closed ports in advance of expected landfall, and major terminals including those in the Shanghai area, Ningbo and Xiamen suspended operations. Ferries were also halted, while heavy rain drenched Beijing as China braced for the system. The precautions reflected the vulnerability of crowded harbors and export corridors in southern China, where even short stoppages can ripple through shipping schedules and factory supply chains.

In Hong Kong, at least 12 flights linking the city with mainland China, Taiwan and Japan were canceled because of Typhoon Dolphin, adding another layer of cross-border disruption. The storm's slow movement left emergency managers with a wide zone to monitor and a narrow margin to absorb delays, from Okinawa's damaged neighborhoods to closed Chinese ports.