China issues red alert as Typhoon Dolphin hits its eastern coast

Beijing: China's national observatory issued a red alert -- the highest level in the country's typhoon warning system -- as Typhoon Dolphin hit Zhejiang province on the eastern coast on Sunday afternoon.

Typhoon Dolphin, the 13th typhoon of the year in China, made landfall with a maximum sustained wind of 42 metres per second, making it a severe typhoon upon landfall.

The red alert was required due to the typhoon's heavy rainfall intensity, extensive impact range and prolonged duration, said Wang Haiping, National Meteorological Centre (NMC) chief forecaster.


From Sunday to Wednesday, regions including northern Fujian, Zhejiang, Shanghai, northern Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, eastern Hubei, central and eastern Henan, and southern Shandong will be hit by heavy downpours, with some areas in central-eastern Zhejiang and southern Anhui facing severe torrential rain.

NMC warned local authorities in the affected areas to guard against extreme downpours.

Affected by the typhoon, the Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in Hangzhou City, capital of Zhejiang, has cancelled 500 inbound and outbound flights for the day.

Shanghai's two main airports had scrapped over 80 per cent of their daily flights - more than 2,230 cancellations in total - and more than 720 were called off for Monday.

Wang Hao, Communist Party secretary of Zhejiang province, stressed on Sunday that public safety was the top priority.

He urged strict precautions against mountain torrents, mudslides and other disasters that could be triggered by heavy rainfall, demanding the complete evacuation of anyone in harm's way.

A nine-year-old boy was swept into the sea as he walked with his family ahead of the typhoon's landfall on Friday, when a massive wave battered the coastal sea wall in Shitang, a town in Zhejiang province's Wenling, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

The search for the missing boy continued into Sunday, but local officials warned dangerous conditions were hampering the search.

NMC forecasts Typhoon Dolphin to move north-westward and gradually weaken after landfall. After Wednesday, the weakened remnant vortex will turn northward.

A remnant vortex is a persistent low-pressure system that continues to exist after a tropical cyclone makes landfall and loses its primary energy source from the ocean.

Addressing key areas of prevention, NMC chief forecaster Wang said the coastal areas of East China and the East China Sea need to focus on guarding against gale-force winds.

From Sunday to Tuesday, most parts of the East China Sea, Hangzhou Bay, the coastal areas of Zhejiang, and the Yangtze River Estuary are expected to experience winds of Force 9 to 12, with gusts reaching Force 11 to 14, while gusts near the typhoon centre could reach Force 15 to 16, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Relevant provinces also need to guard against secondary disasters triggered by persistent heavy rainfall, he said. The risks of mountain torrents, geological disasters, and flash floods in small and medium-sized rivers are relatively high in Zhejiang, Anhui, Henan, and Hebei, while some cities face high risks of urban waterlogging.

"A typhoon's landfall does not mean its impact is over. After Dolphin makes landfall, it will push further inland," Wang said.

From Thursday to Sunday, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, northern Shandong and Liaoning are likely to see heavy rainfall, with some areas expected to experience severe torrential rain. In response to the typhoon, China's meteorological authority on Sunday upgraded its emergency response for severe meteorological disasters from Level III to Level II.