One million evacuated as Typhoon Dolphin pummels east China: What we know
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Provinces in eastern China have been inundated with heavy rain and flooding caused by Typhoon Dolphin, the strongest storm to make landfall in China this year.
Dolphin struck eastern China, including Shanghai, with winds up to 150 kilometres per hour (93 miles per hour), forcing more than one million people to evacuate their homes. The storm has disrupted flights and other transport while bringing heavy rain, flooding and the risk of landslides across the region.
About 40 percent of flights in Shanghai were grounded on Monday due to the weather.
After Dolphin made landfall late on Sunday, it weakened to below cyclone strength and is forecast to weaken further as it moves inland.
The typhoon made landfall in Yuhuan in China’s Zhejiang province about 5:30pm (09:30 GMT) on Sunday, according to China’s meteorological authorities.
On Monday, Shanghai was badly hit with residents circulating the hashtag “Shanghai turns into the sea” on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
Last month, Typhoon Bavi also made landfall in Zhejiang, causing the evacuation of 1.7 million people.
Torrential rain was expected on Monday across Zhejiang, Shanghai, northern Fujian, northeastern Jiangxi, central and southern Anhui and much of Jiangsu.
Parts of central and eastern Zhejiang could receive 250mm to 500mm (10 to 20 inches) of rain in all, according to forecasters.
China’s Ministry of Water Resources warned that the Qiantang, Yong, Jiao and Shuiyang rivers could experience major flooding while smaller rivers in the hardest hit areas could rise above warning levels.
Authorities also warned of a high risk of geological disasters in parts of Zhejiang with residents in areas under a red mountain-torrent warning told to follow local evacuation orders.
Since making landfall, Dolphin is forecast to track westwards before slowing over central and southwestern China and gradually losing strength, Wang Haiping, chief forecaster at the National Meteorological Centre, told state broadcaster CCTV.
The slower movement could prolong heavy rainfall and increase the threat of flooding and landslides, particularly in mountainous areas and along smaller rivers.
The authorities have warned of the risk of severe flooding and landslides as the storm moves further inland and continues to bring heavy rain to densely populated areas of eastern China.
Shanghai evacuated at least 30,300 people while, in neighbouring Zhejiang province, the city of Wenzhou relocated more than 900,000 residents and opened more than 1,000 emergency shelters.
Authorities also evacuated about 390,000 people in the Zhejiang city of Taizhou before Saturday evening.
In Fujian province, about 98,900 people were evacuated from high-risk areas after authorities raised the typhoon emergency response to Level III, the state news agency Xinhua reported.
Authorities moved offshore workers to safety, ordered vessels back to port and stepped up inspections of reservoirs, mountain streams, landslide-prone areas, construction sites and tourist locations.
People have been told to avoid going out of doors and tourist attractions, including parts of Disneyland and Legoland, and viewing platforms along the Bund in Shanghai have been closed.
In Hangzhou, Zhejiang’s capital, parking fees in public spaces have been waived for drivers needing to abandon vehicles to seek shelter.
Transport has been widely disrupted across the region. About 1,400 flights have been cancelled from Shanghai.
Fujian maritime authorities suspended 55 coastal passenger ferry routes, halted 115 offshore construction projects and moved 290 construction vessels to sheltered waters.
Shanghai’s Yangshan port also cleared ships from its berths and moved more than 500 small and medium-sized vessels to shelter before the storm.
Dolphin originally grew out of a tropical depression on July 26, moving at 45km/h (30mph) over the open waters of the Central Pacific Ocean as it embarked on a journey of several thousand kilometres.
Over the course of its journey, Dolphin strengthened to a tropical storm and then to a severe tropical storm before burgeoning into a typhoon and then a very strong typhoon on July 28.
As it came ashore in China on Monday, the storm packed maximum sustained winds of 151km/h (93mph) near its centre, equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane, the lowest category of hurricane.
Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons are all essentially the same thing. The main difference is where they originate. All three are storm systems with winds exceeding 118km/h (73mph).
Typhoons occur in the northwestern Pacific Ocean and frequently hit the Philippines and Japan. Typhoon season is most common between May and October, but the storms can form year-round. The strength of a typhoon has various classification scales with the most severe storms named super typhoons.
Cyclones occur in the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean, often impacting countries from Australia all the way to Mozambique. Cyclone season typically runs from November to April.
Hurricanes occur in the Atlantic Ocean and Eastern Pacific and often affect the East Coast of the United States, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. The strength of a hurricane is measured on a wind scale from 1 to 5. A Category 1 hurricane will bring sustained winds of 119-153km/h (74-95mph) whereas a Category 5 storm can exceed 252km/h (157mph).
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