Typhoon Dolphin drove more than 1 million people to safety across eastern China by Sunday evening, then weakened to a tropical storm by 5am on Monday while still dumping intense rain on Shanghai. A central Shanghai weather station recorded nearly 313mm in 24 hours to 7am Monday, the highest such reading there in more than 150 years.
Shanghai moved 215,600 people from areas considered at risk by Sunday evening, while Fujian relocated 98,900 people and Wenzhou moved more than 900,000 people and opened more than 1,500 emergency shelters. In central Shanghai, another station recorded nearly 400mm, a level that helps explain why the city’s transport network was pushed back so quickly.
Shanghai transport halts
Shanghai’s two airports cancelled more than 1,300 flights, and public transport services, including many local trains, were suspended. Hangzhou resumed subway services on Monday morning after halting some train operations on Sunday, while Ningbo international airport said it would resume flight operations from midday Monday.
Those disruptions left travelers and workers with a narrow set of practical options: wait for services to restart, or adjust plans around the cancellation wave already absorbed by Shanghai’s airports and rail lines. The storm’s reach was visible beyond the city too, with average rainfall across Zhejiang reaching 173mm from Friday evening to Monday morning.
Weibo and Wukang Mansion
As flooded streets appeared around Wukang Mansion, the hashtag “Shanghai turns into the sea” began trending on Weibo. The images spread while Typhoon Dolphin was still moving northwards and farther inland, which kept pressure on local authorities even after the system weakened.
The complication is the timing: the storm weakened rapidly by 5am on Monday, but authorities maintained an orange alert for heavy rain through Wednesday and warned of 200-400mm of rain in parts of eastern and central China, including Zhejiang and Shanghai. Rain moving farther north and inland can keep flooding risks in play even after wind speeds fall, and that is the immediate problem for people still waiting for roads, trains, and flights to normalize.
The next point of relief for travelers is the midday Monday reopening planned for Ningbo international airport, while Shanghai remains under the heavy-rain alert as the storm tracks inland.
