Typhoon Dolphin batters Japan's Okinawa, heads toward China

A powerful typhoon battered Japan’s southern island of Okinawa on Saturday, knocking out power to more than 50,000 buildings and injuring six people before continuing toward China.

Five elderly people in Okinawa suffered non-life-threatening injuries, while another person was injured in Kagoshima prefecture, according to local officials. Nearly 39,000 buildings in Kagoshima and more than 12,000 in Okinawa were without electricity.

The typhoon, named Dolphin, brought maximum sustained winds of 162 kilometers per hour (101 mph), with gusts reaching 216 kph (134 mph). The storm also disrupted travel, with major Japanese airlines canceling flights to and from Okinawa.

On Friday, local authorities ordered nearly 260,000 residents in Kagoshima and Okinawa to evacuate as the storm approached, warning of violent winds, heavy rain and high waves.

Dolphin is expected to weaken as it moves toward China, where the typhoon emergency response has been raised to Level III, signaling a heightened state of preparedness, and the storm has been classified as an orange-category typhoon.

Landfall is forecast between Zhoushan in Zhejiang province and Fuding in Fujian province between late Sunday and early Monday.

Chinese authorities have suspended port operations and ferry services in affected coastal areas, while some schools and tourist sites have also been closed. Heavy rain of up to 400 mm is forecast in parts of eastern China, raising the risk of flooding and landslides.