BEIJING, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Typhoon Dolphin is set to make landfall on China’s east coast overnight Sunday, bringing torrential rain and powerful winds, as authorities brace for flooding and landslides across a broad swathe of eastern China.
Typhoon Dolphin has already swept through Japan’s southern Okinawa prefecture, injuring six people and cutting power to more than 50,000 buildings. Before its landfall in China, authorities 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.
The storm is expected to hit the coast on Sunday evening and into Monday with sustained winds of up to 162 kilometres per hour (101 mph) before weakening and moving inland, China’s National Meteorological Centre said. That is equal to a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, a storm capable of producing extensive damage to homes, trees and infrastructure.
Torrential rain is forecast through August 10 across Zhejiang, Shanghai, northern Fujian, northeastern Jiangxi, central and southern Anhui, and much of Jiangsu. Parts of central and eastern Zhejiang could receive 250-500 mm (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 Centre, told state broadcaster CCTV.
That could prolong heavy rain and raise the risk of flooding and landslides, especially in mountainous areas and along smaller rivers.
The water resources ministry said the Qiantang, Yong, Jiao and Shuiyang rivers could see major flooding, while smaller rivers in the hardest-hit areas could rise above warning levels.
China maintained a Level III flood emergency response in Zhejiang and Fujian, and Level IV in Jiangsu and Anhui. The emergency management ministry said it had sent teams to Zhejiang and Fujian.
China’s four-level emergency system ranks Level I as the most severe.
The natural resources ministry also set a Level III geological-disaster response in Zhejiang and a Level IV response in Anhui, warning of landslides and other hazards in eastern Zhejiang and western Anhui.
Authorities warned of a high risk of geological disasters in parts of Zhejiang, while residents in areas covered by the red mountain-torrent warning were told to follow local evacuation orders.
Shanghai’s Yangshan port cleared ships from its berths and moved more than 500 small and medium-sized vessels to shelter ahead of Dolphin, the city’s maritime safety administration said.
(Reporting by Kevin Yao and Eduardo Baptista; editing by Lincoln Feast.)
