Shanghai awoke to a city transformed by water on Monday as relentless rain from Typhoon Dolphin flooded roads, disrupted businesses and brought air travel at one of Asia’s largest transport centres to a sudden halt.
The typhoon had made landfall in neighbouring Zhejiang province on Sunday evening with sustained winds reaching approximately 151 kilometres per hour. Although it later weakened into a tropical storm, its enormous cloud system continued pouring rain across Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui and Shandong on 10 August.
Shanghai’s Pudong and Hongqiao airports cancelled a combined 943 flights because of dangerous weather conditions. The disruption reduced the city’s flight capacity by almost 40%, leaving thousands of passengers facing delays, missed connections and rapidly changing travel arrangements. Verified storm and aviation figures
Floodwater covered streets in commercial districts and suburban neighbourhoods. Residents were seen walking through murky, knee-deep water while vehicles struggled along partially submerged roads. Authorities in some districts advised non-essential businesses, public activities and transport services to suspend operations temporarily.
Conditions were particularly dangerous in Zhejiang, where powerful winds overturned a truck and brought trees down across roads and electricity lines. Repair crews worked through the rain to clear debris and reconnect affected communities.
Authorities reported that 74 rivers in the Taihu Lake basin and coastal Zhejiang had risen beyond official warning levels. The saturated ground also increased the possibility of flash floods and landslides, especially in smaller river valleys and mountainous communities.
Dolphin has been described as the strongest typhoon to strike China so far in 2026. Before reaching land, the storm travelled approximately 6,000 kilometres giving it a lifespan far longer than that of an ordinary typhoon and allowing it to develop an unusually extensive rain system.
The threat is not over. Moisture carried inland by the weakening storm is expected to interact with colder northern air, bringing additional heavy rainfall toward Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. Emergency authorities have warned communities to prepare for flooding and possible landslides through Thursday.
The same weather system also contributed to extreme heat farther south. Hong Kong recorded 36.9°C on Sunday, its highest temperature since official records began in 1884.
Dolphin’s impact demonstrates that a typhoon can remain destructive even after its strongest winds weaken. For Shanghai’s stranded passengers and residents navigating flooded streets, the danger on 10 August came not from the storm’s eye but from the vast volume of water it left behind.
