13 times the size of Zhejiang: China deploys drones, AI as Typhoon Dolphin nears coast

Coastal provinces halt shipping and activities and evacuate fishermen as storm targets Zhejiang and Fujian2-MIN READ2-MIN0ListenPublished: 1:53pm, 7 Aug 2026Ferry routes have been suspended, construction halted, fishermen evacuated and drones deployed to patrol over the sea as China’s coastal provinces prepare for the landfall of Typhoon Dolphin, the fourth typhoon to reach the country this summer.By Friday morning, the typhoon was about 820km from China’s east coast and was expected to land from Sunday afternoon to Monday morning somewhere between Zhejiang province in eastern China and northern Fujian, the National Meteorological Centre said.The centre maintained a yellow alert, the third-strongest on a four-tier scale, warning of strong wind and rain in Zhejiang, Fujian and Taiwan.What is a ‘super’ El Nino?By Friday morning, the typhoon had grown to nearly 13 times the size of Zhejiang, the centre’s meteorologist Shen Yuyang said. It was not clear where it might travel after landing, said the centre, which estimated it could go west or northwest.As the typhoon entered the 48-hour alert zone, Chinese authorities were busy preparing with new technology, state broadcaster CCTV said on Thursday. An Artificial Intelligence forecasting system at the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Centre could allow prediction of the typhoon’s route, strength and landfall factors for the next 240 hours, the report said.The centre said the typhoon’s large wind radius meant inland residents should also pay attention to it, not just those living on the coast. Multiple regions could see heavy rain, including in Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Henan and Shandong provinces, CCTV said while issuing a caution for residents to check for flash flood alerts.Ningbo coastal areas initiate a level 2 typhoon emergency response. Photo: Weibo/东南商报
In Zhejiang, a level 2 emergency response – the second highest in a four-tier system – was launched on Friday morning, with authorities halting 162 ferry routes and 193 construction projects on the water, and docking 474 ships, while 15 tow boats were standing by in case of emergency, according to CCTV.