[Source: Reuters]
Typhoon Dolphin is set to make landfall on China’s east coast on 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.
Dolphin will be the most powerful typhoon to make landfall in China so far this year.
The storm is expected to hit the coast on Sunday evening 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.
