FUZHOU, CHINA / RankWire.AI / – Typhoon Dolphin forced the evacuation of about 167,900 people in Fujian Province as heavy rain and flooding spread across eastern China. The Fujian figure covered residents moved from vulnerable land and coastal areas by 7 a.m. Monday. Shanghai had separately evacuated about 215,600 people from areas considered at risk by late Sunday. Dolphin made two landfalls in neighboring Zhejiang Province on Sunday before moving inland and steadily losing strength.
Fujian authorities suspended 686 road passenger routes and 658 train services during the storm response. They also closed 234 major tourist attractions and canceled dozens of cultural and tourism events. In Shanghai, airlines canceled more than 900 flights at the city’s two main airports on Monday. Heavy rainfall caused flooding in parts of the financial center and disrupted public transportation. The measures followed widespread weather warnings across coastal areas exposed to Dolphin’s winds and rain.
Dolphin, the 13th typhoon of 2026, reached Zhejiang with powerful winds on Sunday. It came ashore near Yuhuan in Taizhou at about 5:30 p.m. with maximum winds of 42 meters per second. That equals about 151 kilometers per hour. The system made another Zhejiang landfall before moving farther inland. Its large circulation brought heavy rainfall across Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui and other parts of eastern China as the storm weakened.
Storm weakens after Zhejiang landfalls
By 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dolphin’s center had reached Huanggang in central China’s Hubei Province. The National Meteorological Center classified the system as a tropical storm and kept a blue typhoon warning in effect. Its outer circulation carried maximum winds of 18 meters per second, while central pressure stood at 995 hectopascals. The storm was moving west-northwest at about 15 kilometers per hour. Heavy rain continued across several provinces well beyond Dolphin’s original coastal landfall zone.
The Ministry of Water Resources activated a Level IV flood emergency response for Hubei, Henan, Hebei and Shandong on Monday. It maintained a Level III response in Zhejiang as officials monitored rivers and areas exposed to flash floods. Central authorities also earmarked 120 million yuan for Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian and Jiangxi. The money supports rescue work, temporary shelter, hazard removal, safety inspections and repairs to homes damaged by flooding and the typhoon.
Flood response expands inland
Official forecasts for Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday showed heavy rain across a broad section of eastern and central China. Affected areas included Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Shandong and Hebei. Beijing and Tianjin also remained within the heavy-rain zone. Forecast rainfall reached 250 to 350 millimeters in parts of southwestern Shandong and central and eastern Henan. Strong winds also remained across sections of the eastern coast, nearby seas, the Yangtze River estuary and Hangzhou Bay.
Authorities continued monitoring smaller rivers, mountain areas and communities exposed to flooding as Dolphin moved deeper inland. The 167,900 evacuation figure applies specifically to Fujian Province, rather than eastern China as a whole. Shanghai reported another 215,600 evacuations, while Zhejiang also carried out large-scale relocations before the storm reached the coast. By Tuesday morning, Dolphin had weakened substantially from its Zhejiang landfall strength, but its circulation continued producing heavy rainfall across central and eastern parts of China.