Typhoon Dolphin hits China’s east coast, over 1 million evacuated

BEIJING — Typhoon Dolphin, the most powerful tropical cyclone to hit China this year, made landfall on the country’s eastern coast on Sunday, bringing torrential rain and strong winds and ⁠triggering warnings of flooding and landslides.

BEIJING — Typhoon Dolphin, the most powerful tropical cyclone to hit China this year, made landfall on the country’s eastern coast on Sunday, bringing torrential rain and strong winds and ⁠triggering warnings of flooding and landslides. The typhoon has already swept through Japan’s southern Okinawa prefecture, injuring six people and cutting power to more than 50,000 buildings.

Typhoon Dolphin made landfall near Yuhuan in eastern Zhejiang province at about 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, China’s meteorological authorities said. The storm packed maximum sustained winds of 42 meters per second near its center at landfall, equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane on the ⁠Saffir-Simpson scale.

Authorities had moved offshore workers to safety, ordered vessels back ​to ⁠port and increased checks at reservoirs, mountain streams, landslide-prone areas, construction sites and tourist locations.

Torrential rain is forecast through Aug. 10 across Zhejiang, Shanghai, northern Fujian, northeastern Jiangxi, central and southern Anhui, and ⁠much of Jiangsu. Parts of central and eastern Zhejiang could receive 9.8-19.7 inches of rain, according to forecasters.

After landfall, ​Dolphin is ⁠forecast to track westward before slowing over central ‌and southwestern China and gradually losing strength, Wang Haiping, chief forecaster at the National Meteorological Center, told state broadcaster CCTV.