Hundreds more flights are canceled as Tropical Storm Dolphin causes flooding in eastern China

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BEIJING (AP) — Shanghai airports canceled hundreds of flights on Monday as Tropical Storm Dolphin dumped heavy rain in eastern China, causing flooding in places after making landfall as a typhoon the previous day.

Shanghai’s Hongqiao and Pudong airports canceled more than 900 flights, or about 40% of those expected, after about 1,300 were canceled the day before, according to Shanghai Airport Group.

Shanghai also suspended some of its metro lines on Monday, and China Railway Chengdu Group suspended 115 trains, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Authorities warned of risks of severe flooding and landslides in some areas. State broadcaster CCTV reported that authorities in Yueqing, a city in Zhejiang province, searched for people trapped in flooded homes.

The China Meteorological Administration said Dolphin was moving northwest at 15 to 20 kilometers per hour (9 to 12 mph) and was expected to continue weakening.

Dolphin made landfall Sunday evening in Taizhou in Zhejiang province with winds of 151 kph (93 mph), after bringing heavy rain to northern Taiwan over the weekend.

Dolphin had forced at least 760,000 people to preemptively relocate, including over 390,000 people in Taizhou. Authorities in Shanghai and Fujian Province evacuated more than 210,000 and 160,000 people, respectively, from riskier areas.

Authorities in Zhejiang's capital city, Hangzhou, temporarily closed its iconic West Lake scenic spots as well as temples, parks and museums and will reopen on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, Tropical Storm Chan-hom was heading toward Japan’s Pacific coast. The storm had 83 kph (51 mph) winds Monday morning and was forecast to strengthen slightly before landfall Tuesday into Wednesday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Dolphin did not directly hit the Philippines, but it helped intensify seasonal monsoon rains that set off flooding and landslides on the main northern island region of Luzon.

A landslide buried three houses Sunday night in the northern mountain resort city of Baguio, killing five people with at least five others missing, officials said. A frantic search for the missing continued Monday despite intermittent rains. Three people were dug out alive and brought to a hospital, Baguio officials said.

The deaths from the mudslide raised the death toll in nearly a week of torrential rains, floods and a tropical storm last week in the northern Luzon region to 15, the government’s Office of Civil Defense said.

More than a million people were affected by the heavy monsoon rains and floods, including about 98,000 who were displaced from homes.