Typhoon Dolphin Bears Down on China's East Coast, Prompting Mass Evacuations

BEIJING —

Typhoon Dolphin was closing in on China's east coast Sunday, prompting the country's most severe storm warning and forcing officials to evacuate tens of thousands of people from Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, two of the most crowded stretches of China's coastline.

China's National Meteorological Center issued a red typhoon alert, its highest level, on Sunday morning, forecasting what it called "extraordinary torrential rain" for parts of central and eastern Zhejiang, France 24 reported. The storm was expected to make landfall late Sunday or early Monday with sustained winds up to 162 kilometers (about 101 miles) per hour, a strength equal to a Category Two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, forecasters said, according to Channel NewsAsia and The Straits Times. Storms at that strength can cause serious damage to homes, trees and power lines.

By Sunday afternoon, Dolphin was centered about 180 kilometers (112 miles) east of the city of Wenzhou and moving west at roughly 18 kilometers (11 miles) per hour toward Zhejiang, according to the Hong Kong Observatory, as cited by the South China Morning Post. Forecasters expect the storm to weaken after landfall as it tracks westward and slows over central and southwestern China, chief forecaster Wang Haiping of the National Meteorological Center told state broadcaster CCTV. That slower pace could prolong heavy rain and raise the risk of flooding and landslides in mountainous areas and along smaller rivers, forecasters warned.

Evacuations and flight cancellations

Nearly 99,000 people were moved out of high-risk areas in Fujian province by Saturday evening, the state news agency Xinhua reported, according to France 24. Authorities canceled about 1,400 flights at Shanghai's two main airports and 270 more at Hangzhou's airport in Zhejiang, CCTV reported. In Taiwan, more than 180 flights and dozens of ferry routes were suspended as the storm brought heavy rain to the island's north, France 24 reported.

China's water resources ministry warned that the Qiantang, Yong, Jiao and Shuiyang rivers could see major flooding, while smaller rivers in the hardest-hit areas could rise above warning levels, Channel NewsAsia and The Straits Times reported. The country kept a Level III flood emergency response active in Zhejiang and Fujian and a Level IV response in Jiangsu and Anhui, under a four-tier system in which Level I marks the most severe threat. Shanghai's Yangshan port cleared its berths and moved more than 500 small and medium-sized vessels to shelter, according to the city's maritime safety administration.

Okinawa hit first, Hong Kong swelters

Before reaching China, Dolphin battered Japan's Okinawa prefecture, injuring at least six people and cutting power to more than 50,000 buildings, Channel NewsAsia and BBC News reported. One man in his hundreds was hurt after gusts knocked him to the ground, according to the Okinawan prefectural government cited by France 24.

Meanwhile, the outer edge of the typhoon pushed hot, sinking air into southern China, and Hong Kong recorded its highest temperature since record-keeping began in 1884. The Hong Kong Observatory measured 36.8 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Fahrenheit) at its headquarters Sunday afternoon, while Sheung Shui hit 38.3 degrees Celsius (about 101 degrees Fahrenheit), the South China Morning Post reported. The Observatory said the heat would likely continue through midweek.

Dolphin's arrival comes two weeks after Typhoon Noul struck Guangdong province, which authorities called the strongest storm to hit China so far this year, France 24 reported. Noul killed three people and damaged hundreds of homes in the Philippines before it reached China.