Kathmandu: Typhoon Dolphin has hit eastern China hard and reports say more than a million people have had to leave their homes.

The storm came ashore near Yuhuan in Zhejiang province on Sunday evening, packing winds of around 150km/h. It is being called the strongest typhoon to hit China this year.

By Monday morning, authorities had downgraded it to a tropical storm but heavy rain and flood warnings remain in place across several provinces, including Shanghai, through Wednesday.

Shanghai alone cancelled about 1,400 flights and moved over 30,000 people to safety. In Wenzhou, more than 900,000 residents were relocated and over 1,000 emergency shelters were opened.

Videos from state media show flooded streets in Shanghai’s old French Concession with people wading through water that reached their ankles.

Popular spots like Shanghai Disneyland and the Bund viewing platforms have shut down for now. A nine year old boy from Zhejiang is reported missing after being swept out to sea, though officials have not confirmed any deaths so far.

State broadcaster CCTV said Dolphin travelled nearly 6,000km before making landfall which is an unusually long path for a typhoon and this may explain its size and heavy rainfall.

Chinese police have also detained two people for spreading fake storm videos online, including one made with AI showing a false claim about someone falling from a building in Shanghai.

Before reaching China, Dolphin had already brought heavy rain to the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan’s Okinawa island.