Storms from Dolphin soak China's east, disrupt life in Shanghai

Torrential rain and storms in Typhoon Dolphin's wake have swept through several provinces in China's east, drenching the coastal region and flooding streets in Shanghai, the country's second most populated city.

Dolphin packed maximum sustained winds of 151 km/h near its centre when it made landfall in Zhejiang, the province to the south and west of Shanghai, on Sunday evening before weakening to a tropical storm.

Its remaining rain clouds continued to soak the eastern provinces including Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong on Monday.

Shanghai's two airports cancelled a total of 943 flights due to the typhoon, reducing capacity by nearly 40%, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Many streets in the suburban Jiading and Qingpu districts around Shanghai's city centre remained waterlogged, according to live-streams shared by residents on social media. The live videos, not verified by Reuters, showed people wading through knee-high murky water.

"It rained almost all night last night. When I woke up this morning, I found the neighbourhood flooded, and the streets were severely flooded," said 39-year-old Hou Lina, who works in sales in Jiading in Shanghai.

"I've lived in Shanghai for 10 years, and this is the first time I've experienced such inconvenience from a typhoon. This is the first time I've encountered such widespread flooding," she told Reuters.

In Shanghai's Jinshan, the district authority said non-essential businesses and organisations could temporarily halt operations, classes, outdoor events and transit services, amid forecasts of continued strong winds and heavy rain on Monday.

Powerful winds and lashing rain flipped over a truck in Zhejiang's Wenzhou, a video posted on TikTok on Sunday showed. It was not clear what happened to the driver.

RAIN AND FLOOD WARNINGS FOR BEIJING

The strongest typhoon to hit China this year, Dolphin is forecast to move deeper inland to the central provinces of Hubei and Henan in the coming days while also pushing moisture north.

Authorities in the capital Beijing raised warnings for torrential rain and said the city was prepared to activate its flood control response on Tuesday morning.

The typhoon had already travelled 6,000 km before it made landfall, giving it a life-cycle three times longer than an ordinary typhoon, and bringing with it an ultra-large cloud system that enveloped China's east, CCTV said in another report.

Dolphin's impact was also being compared to Doksuri in 2022. That typhoon crossed the country after causing destruction in southeastern Fujian province, unleashing record-breaking rainfall in Beijing.

As the storm clouds meet colder air in the north, Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei will need to brace for rains into Thursday, CCTV said.