Typhoon Dolphin hits China, forcing mass evacuations and flooding

Typhoon Dolphin made landfall on China’s eastern coast Sunday evening after more than one million people were evacuated from eastern China, including Shanghai. The storm was the strongest tropical cyclone to hit China this year, and it forced authorities to brace for flooding and landslides across a broad stretch of the country’s east.

In Shanghai, the downpour triggered the city’s first red rainstorm alert in 13 years. By the afternoon of landfall day, flooding had spread across parts of the city as emergency crews worked to clear standing water and drain inundated streets. The scale of the response showed how quickly the storm turned from a coastal weather event into a strain on one of China’s most important commercial centers.

The disruption reached beyond neighborhoods and into the logistics system that keeps eastern China moving. Reuters reported that China shut ports ahead of landfall, a move that signaled growing concern over shipping delays, cargo handling and regional commerce as the storm closed in. With Shanghai and surrounding coastal areas under heavy weather pressure, the typhoon tested infrastructure that links factories, warehouses and export terminals to global supply chains.

Dolphin was also the fourth typhoon to make landfall in China in 2026, underscoring how often coastal emergency systems have already been forced into action this year. Before reaching China, the storm had hit Japan’s Okinawa, and Reuters said heavy rains were already drenching Beijing on August 7 as the country prepared for the typhoon. The weather footprint was unusually wide, stretching far beyond the landing zone and into the national capital region.

The storm’s effects also crossed into the Philippines, where enhanced monsoon rains linked to Typhoon Dolphin triggered flooding, according to ABS-CBN. WestPacWx said on August 6 that the system was already affecting the Philippines and Japan before it reached China, reinforcing how quickly a single typhoon can cascade across multiple countries and stress emergency planning on several fronts at once.