The powerful Typhoon “Dolphin“, which is defined as the strongest tropical storm in the region for 2026, hit the east coast of China.
The element hit land after a few hours ago causing serious material damage, power outages and injuries on the Japanese island of Okinawa. According to meteorological services as of 5:00 Bulgarian time on August 10, 2026, the situation in the affected Chinese provinces remains extremely critical due to the risk of large-scale floods.
The devastation in Japan before the clash with China
Before reaching the Chinese mainland, Typhoon “Dolphin“ passed with crushing force through the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa. Japan suffered strong winds with gusts of up to 216 km/h. According to information from world agencies, transmitted by the information portal Reuters (reuters.com), at least six people were injured in Japan and more than 50,000 households were left without access to the power grid. Major domestic airlines were forced to cancel dozens of domestic flights, and Okinawa's transport infrastructure was blocked for hours.
Double landing in Zhejiang province and red alert
After leaving Japan, the eye of the storm headed towards the densely populated east coast of China. According to an official report from the China National Meteorological Center, cited by the state agency Xinhua (xinhua.org), “Dolphin“ made two consecutive landings in Zhejiang Province on Sunday evening.
The first impact was recorded at around 17:30 local time near the city of Yuhuang (Taizhou) with a sustained wind speed of 42 meters per second (nearly 151 km/h), which corresponds to a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. A little later, at around 18:40, the typhoon made landfall again in the area of the city of Wenzhou. Authorities in Beijing immediately activated the highest level of meteorological danger - – “red code“, and raised the emergency response to Level II.
Transport collapse and mass evacuation
The scale of the rescue operation in China is enormous:
Over 1 million citizens have been urgently evacuated and accommodated in over 1,000 temporary shelters in Zhejiang Province. In the city of Wenzhou alone, over 900,000 residents have been relocated from the risk zones. In neighboring Fujian province, the number of evacuees exceeds 98,000 people. Meanwhile, in the metropolis of Shanghai, nearly 1,400 flights have been canceled at the two main airports, and the key port of “Yanshan“ has suspended operations and moved ships to a safe distance.According to data from the European network Euronews (euronews.com), the impact of the typhoon is being felt as far away as Hong Kong, where outside air masses have pushed temperatures to a record high of 36.9°C.
Climatologists warn that despite the expected weakening of winds in the interior of China, the risk of disasters remains very high due to the forecasted rainfall amounts of between 250 and 500 mm. The levels of the Qiangtan and Yun rivers are expected to rise significantly, putting vast agricultural and industrial areas at risk of flooding and landslides.