Typhoon Dolphin Batters Okinawa, Heads for Eastern China
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- Typhoon Dolphin struck Okinawa and Amami Island, injuring five elderly people — three from wind-related falls — and cutting power to 14,000 buildings, per the Okinawan prefectural government.
- Typhoon Dolphin was measured at 162km/h sustained winds with gusts reaching 216km/h, located about 160km northwest of Kume Island as of 03:00 GMT Saturday, moving northwest at 15km/h per the Japan Meteorological Agency.
- China's National Meteorological Centre forecast landfall between Zhoushan (Zhejiang) and Fuding (Fujian) late Sunday to early Monday, with parts of eastern Zhejiang forecast to receive more than 600mm of rain through August 12.
- Zhejiang province raised its typhoon alert to the highest level, halted port operations and suspended 162 passenger ferry routes, while Ningbo closed schools and water-related activities and Ningbo Lishe International Airport suspended all Sunday flights.
- Taiwan cancelled 63 international flights and expected heavy rain across its north over the weekend, though authorities had not ordered evacuations as of Saturday.
- China ordered ships in the Taiwan Strait to obey its traffic control instructions during the typhoon — a measure Taipei called "ridiculous," saying Beijing has no right to restrict access to international waters.
Why it matters: Beijing is leveraging Typhoon Dolphin to assert traffic control over the Taiwan Strait, a waterway Taipei insists is international. With eastern Zhejiang forecast to absorb over 600mm of rain atop a record-breaking regional heatwave, the storm compounds flooding risk on heat-stressed infrastructure across eastern China and Shanghai.
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