Typhoon “Dolphin“ slammed into Japan's southern prefecture of Okinawa on Saturday, injuring six people and knocking out power to more than 50,000 buildings. At the same time, China closed ports, suspended ferry services and began preparations for the storm's expected approach along the east coast.
Five elderly Okinawans suffered non-life-threatening injuries, three of whom fell due to strong winds. Another person was injured in Kagoshima prefecture, local authorities said.
Nearly 39,000 buildings in Kagoshima and more than 12,000 in Okinawa were without power. Japanese airlines ANA and Japan Airlines canceled flights to and from Okinawa.
The typhoon is packing maximum sustained winds of about 162 km/h and gusts of up to 216 km/h. The hardest hit areas in Japan are expected to be Okinawa and Amami Island in Kagoshima Prefecture.
In China, authorities have classified “Dolphin“ as an orange typhoon - the second highest level of warning. The storm is expected to make landfall between late Sunday and early Monday, most likely in the area between the city of Zhoushan in Zhejiang province and Fuding in Fujian province.
The China National Meteorological Center is forecasting winds of 38 to 45 meters per second near the typhoon's center. Some parts of eastern Zhejiang could drop more than 600 mm of rain.
Zhejiang authorities raised the warning for coastal areas to the highest level and suspended port operations. Ferries in eastern and southern China were grounded, some construction work was suspended and fishing boats were ordered to return to port.
Ningbo Lishi International Airport will suspend all flights on Sunday. The port of Yangshan near Shanghai was cleared of vessels as early as Friday evening, and some rail services in the Yangtze River Delta will also be disrupted.
The typhoon also canceled 78 flights in Taiwan, mostly international ones. Heavy rain is expected in the northern part of the island over the weekend. No evacuation orders had been issued as of Saturday.