SHANGHAI, China– Typhoon Dolphin brought daily life to a grinding halt in Shanghai on Monday, August 10, 2026, as torrential rain turned busy streets into rivers. The severe weather flooded roads and major commercial districts, forcing the city’s two main airports to cancel 943 flights. This massive wave of cancellations reduced Shanghai’s combined aviation capacity by nearly 40 percent, leaving thousands of weary travelers completely stranded.
The travel disruption continued long after Typhoon Dolphin officially made landfall in Zhejiang province, just south and west of Shanghai. The storm crashed into the Chinese coast on Sunday evening with maximum sustained winds of 151 kilometers per hour near its center. While the system quickly weakened to a tropical storm, its remaining rain clouds continued to drench large parts of eastern China for days.
Key Takeaways
- Typhoon Dolphin forced the cancellation of 943 flights in Shanghai, cutting airport capacity by 40%.
- The storm hit Zhejiang province on Sunday with winds reaching 151 kilometers per hour before weakening.
- Extreme flooding has submerged major roads and commercial districts across China’s second-most populous city.
Shanghai, China’s second-most populous city, reported widespread street flooding throughout its sprawling urban landscape. Major commercial districts and suburban neighborhoods were left completely waterlogged after a night of relentless, heavy downpours.
Residents shared videos on social media showing people wading through knee-high floodwaters just to reach their workplaces. According to weather stations in central Shanghai, the city recorded its highest 24-hour rainfall in more than 150 years of official records.
The heavy rainfall put immense pressure on local emergency responders and the city’s underground drainage systems. City authorities swiftly mobilized response teams to clear blocked storm drains and pump water out of the most heavily affected areas.
Despite these rapid and coordinated efforts, the sheer volume of floodwater made it difficult for major roads to reopen quickly. Residents were strongly urged to stay indoors, and many non-essential businesses chose to temporarily close their doors to keep employees safe.
Meanwhile, airlines worked frantically to manage the massive backlog of delayed and canceled flights at the airports. China Eastern Airlines stated it was working hard to restore flights to Shanghai, Zhejiang, and other destinations progressively as weather conditions allowed.
However, airport officials warned that it would take considerable time for normal aviation operations to fully resume. Travelers were strongly advised to check their flight status online before heading to the already congested airport terminals.
Mass Evacuations and Travel Chaos
The extreme weather event prompted one of the largest mass evacuations in the region’s recent history. Authorities across eastern China successfully moved more than a million people to safety ahead of the powerful storm’s arrival.
In the coastal city of Wenzhou, officials relocated over 900,000 residents and quickly opened more than 1,500 temporary emergency shelters. These vital preemptive measures undoubtedly saved lives as the powerful storm battered the coastline with high winds and massive waves.
In Shanghai alone, the city evacuated over 215,000 people from areas considered at high risk for dangerous flooding and wind damage. Many of these displaced residents lived in low-lying coastal zones or older buildings vulnerable to the intense natural elements.
Local authorities also suspended public ferry services, halted all outdoor construction projects, and firmly closed popular tourist attractions. The swift and decisive action highlighted China’s growing focus on comprehensive disaster preparedness in the face of increasingly severe weather systems.
The storm’s path across the ocean was as highly unusual as its raw intensity upon making landfall. Meteorologists noted that Typhoon Dolphin traveled more than 6,000 kilometers across the ocean before finally reaching the shores of China.
This incredible travel distance gives the storm a lifespan that is more than three times longer than an average Pacific typhoon. The extended time spent hovering over warm ocean waters allowed the weather system to pack a massive punch when it finally hit the coast.
What Happens Next for Eastern China?
As the week progresses, the lingering remnants of Typhoon Dolphin are expected to continue moving slowly northward. Forecasters from the National Meteorological Center warn that the storm will likely interact with incoming cold air systems descending from the north. This dangerous atmospheric combination threatens to trigger even more torrential rainfall and severe thunderstorms across northern provinces, including Beijing and Hebei.
Flood control authorities remain on high alert, activating emergency response plans to actively prevent potential geological disasters. They are closely monitoring rising water levels in small and medium-sized rivers that could easily overflow their banks in the coming days. While the immediate wind threat to Shanghai has mostly begun to pass, the long road to environmental recovery is just starting.
City workers now face the massive, exhausting task of clearing fallen trees, repairing damaged power lines, and carefully inspecting flooded infrastructure. For the millions of residents scattered across eastern China, this historic and destructive storm serves as a stark reminder of nature’s unpredictable power.
