More than a million people evacuated in China due to Typhoon Dolphin
Eastern regions of China have faced the consequences of the powerful Typhoon Dolphin, whose approach prompted authorities to evacuate more than a million residents, including in Shanghai.
The storm brought torrential rains, strong winds, and disruptions to transportation infrastructure to the region.
Earlier, Typhoon Dolphin was assigned the highest, red level of meteorological danger. Chinese authorities called it the most powerful storm to hit the country since the beginning of the year.
The typhoon made its first landfall on Sunday at around 5:30 p.m. local time near the city of Yuhuan in Zhejiang province. At that moment, wind speeds reached 150 kilometers per hour. Approximately an hour later, the storm made landfall again near the city of Wenzhou.
The impact of the storm seriously affected transportation. In Shanghai alone, about a thousand flights were canceled on Monday. In the coastal province of Fujian, authorities suspended dozens of passenger ferry routes and also halted more than a hundred projects related to the construction of maritime infrastructure.
The largest-scale evacuation is being carried out in areas of Zhejiang province. In Wenzhou, about 900,000 people were temporarily moved out of potentially dangerous areas, and more than a thousand temporary shelters were opened to accommodate the population. In the city of Taizhou, about 390,000 residents were forced to leave their homes.
On Monday, heavy rain warnings were in effect in several regions at once, including the provinces of Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, as well as Shanghai. Residents were advised not to go outside if possible. Due to the adverse weather conditions, some popular tourist attractions were closed, including certain zones of Shanghai Disneyland and Legoland, as well as several observation decks along the Bund waterfront.
In Zhejiang province, authorities also reported incidents related to the bad weather. According to Chinese state media, a nine-year-old boy went missing in the city of Wenling and was presumably swept out to sea. No official information about fatalities has been received so far.
In Hangzhou, the administrative center of Zhejiang province, authorities took additional measures for residents seeking shelter from strong winds and flooding. In particular, parking fees were temporarily waived at all public parking lots in the city.
Forecasters predict further deterioration of weather conditions in certain areas of Zhejiang.
In the coming days, 250 to 500 millimeters of precipitation may fall there, which increases the risk of large-scale flooding and landslides.
According to the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, before making landfall the typhoon traveled about 6,000 kilometers. Such a duration of the cyclone's existence, the broadcaster notes, is more than three times longer than the average lifespan of a typhoon.
Source: BBC
