TOKYO/BEIJING — Typhoon Dolphin lashed Japan’s southern Okinawa prefecture on Saturday, injuring six people and cutting power to more than 50,000 buildings, while China shut ports and halted ferries ahead of the storm’s expected arrival on its east coast, reports BritPanorama.
Five elderly people suffered non-life-threatening injuries in Okinawa, three of whom fell due to strong winds, while another person was injured in Kagoshima prefecture, authorities noted.
Nearly 39,000 buildings were without power in Kagoshima, while just over 12,000 were affected in Okinawa. Domestic airlines, including ANA and Japan Airlines, cancelled flights to and from Okinawa.
The typhoon had maximum sustained winds of 162 kph (89.5 mph) with gusts reaching 216 kph. Okinawa and Amami island in Kagoshima prefecture are the main areas expected to be impacted in Japan.
In China, where Typhoon Dolphin is anticipated to make landfall between late Sunday and early Monday, authorities have classified it as an orange-category typhoon — the second-highest level.
Authorities, concerned about the risk of flooding and landslides, elevated the emergency response level for Dolphin by one notch to level III, the second-lowest level. The storm is likely to make landfall between Zhoushan city in Zhejiang province and Fuding city in Fujian province, with winds of 38-45 metres per second (85-101 mph) expected near its centre, according to China’s National Meteorological Center.
Ports and airports halt operations
Rain and strong winds are predicted to affect eastern China through August 12, including parts of Shanghai and neighbouring provinces. Some areas of eastern Zhejiang could receive over 600 mm (23.6 inches) of rain, according to forecasters.
Zhejiang raised its coastal typhoon alert to its highest level and suspended port operations. Authorities in eastern and southern China also cancelled ferry services, paused some construction work, and ordered fishing boats back to port.
Ningbo Lishe International Airport in Zhejiang announced it will suspend all flights on Sunday. Shanghai’s Yangshan port had been cleared of vessels by late Friday, while some rail services in the Yangtze River Delta are set to be suspended from Sunday.
Beijing authorities stated they are closely monitoring the typhoon’s trajectory and preparing flood-control and evacuation plans for the capital.
In Taiwan, 78 flights, primarily international, were cancelled due to the typhoon. Heavy rain is expected in northern regions of the island over the weekend, although no evacuations had been ordered as of Saturday.
China has mandated that, due to the typhoon, ships navigating the Taiwan Strait comply with its traffic control instructions — actions that Taipei denounced as “ridiculous”, asserting that Beijing has no authority to restrict access to international waters.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and claims the strategic strait, a stance that both Taipei and Washington reject.
