Flight cancellations, evacuations as China braces for Typhoon Dolphin

What the report says

More than 1,600 flights were cancelled and about 500,000 people evacuated as Typhoon Dolphin approached China’s eastern coast, according to Al Jazeera’s report citing AFP, AP and Reuters. China’s National Meteorological Center issued its highest-level red typhoon alert on Sunday morning as the storm moved toward densely populated coastal areas.

The report said Shanghai’s Hongqiao and Pudong airports cancelled nearly 1,400 flights, while Hangzhou airport in Zhejiang province suspended another 270 inbound and outbound services. Authorities also moved residents from low-lying or vulnerable areas, including about 390,000 people in Taizhou, more than 30,000 in parts of Shanghai, and roughly 99,000 in Fujian province. More than 200 ferry routes in Zhejiang and Fujian were also halted.

Officials were preparing for flooding, landslides and heavy rain, with the weather service warning of very strong rainfall in parts of Zhejiang and additional downpours across Shanghai and nearby provinces. The typhoon was forecast to reach China overnight Sunday into Monday with sustained winds of up to 162 km/h before weakening inland.

Al Jazeera also noted that the storm’s outer bands had affected northern Taiwan and that Dolphin had passed through Japan’s Okinawa prefecture over the weekend, where it injured seven people and disrupted power for tens of thousands of buildings.