Sawt Falasteen - Flight cancellations, evacuations in China as Typhoon Dolphin looms

Nearly 1,400 flights in and out of Shanghai's two main passenger airports had been cancelled on Sunday, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Hangzhou's airport in nearby Zhejiang province saw 270 inbound and outbound flights cancelled, the report said.

Typhoon Dolphin, which brought heavy rain and strong winds to Japan's Okinawa in recent days, is expected to make landfall late Sunday or early Monday in Zhejiang or its neighbouring province of Fujian.

Seven people in Okinawa suffered minor injuries, including a man aged over 100 who was blown by gusts, fell on the ground and hit his head, according to the island's government.

By Sunday afternoon, 5,290 households in Okinawa were without electricity, according to regional utility Okinawa Electric Power.

In Taiwan, dozens of ferry services were suspended and more than 180 flights were cancelled as the storm brought downpours and strong winds to the island's north on Sunday.

China's National Meteorological Centre (NMC) issued a red typhoon alert -- its most severe warning -- on Sunday morning, forecasting "extraordinary torrential rain" in some areas of central and eastern Zhejiang.

Heavy precipitation is also expected to fall in Shanghai and parts of Fujian, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces through Monday afternoon, the NMC said.

After Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall, it is expected to weaken while moving in a northwesterly direction over eastern China.

In Fujian, nearly 99,000 people had been relocated from "risky areas" on Saturday evening ahead of the storm's arrival, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Services on more than 200 ferry routes were suspended in Zhejiang and Fujian, Xinhua said.

Work at offshore projects had been halted while 474 construction vessels had been called to port by Friday morning, Xinhua added.

Some train services in affected areas had also been suspended on Sunday to ensure passenger safety, state media reported.

Typhoon Dolphin's arrival in China comes two weeks after Typhoon Noul lashed southern Guangdong province, declared by authorities at the time as the strongest to hit China this year.

Three people were killed and hundreds of homes were damaged by Typhoon Noul in the Philippines before reaching China.

B.AbuZeid--SF-PST