Typhoon Bavi Makes Landfall in China After 2 Million Evacuated

Typhoon Bavi made landfall in eastern China’s Zhejiang province late Saturday after authorities evacuated more than 2 million people, state media reported, as the storm brought winds of 144 kph to a region already reeling from a deadly typhoon days earlier.

Bavi is the second typhoon to strike China in just over a week, following Typhoon Maysak, which killed at least 39 people in the southern city of Nanning after a dam breach flooded streets. The latest storm forced widespread flight and train cancellations across Zhejiang, Fujian and Shanghai and prompted Beijing to raise its emergency flood-control response, underscoring the scale of this year’s typhoon season along China’s coast.

Authorities across eastern China evacuated more than 2 million people ahead of the storm’s arrival, according to figures compiled from Chinese state media. Zhejiang province alone accounted for more than 1.7 million evacuations as of Saturday, while more than 130,000 people were relocated in Fujian province and about 34,000 in Shanghai’s coastal and high-risk areas. Torrential rain further north also prompted authorities to evacuate more than 100,000 residents in Beijing as officials increased water discharge from the capital’s Miyun Reservoir.

The Wenzhou city government, home to nearly 10 million people in Zhejiang, described the scale of the response in a statement, saying the mobilization was “sparing no effort or cost” to guard against a worst-case scenario. China’s State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters raised its emergency response level for Zhejiang and Fujian from Level III to Level II ahead of landfall.

400 Flights Cancelled, Schools Shut Down

More than 400 flights and dozens of train services were canceled across Zhejiang, and schools, workplaces and outdoor activities were suspended in the storm’s path. Chinese authorities said they had allocated 40 million yuan, or about $5.9 million, in central disaster relief funds to support Zhejiang and Fujian’s emergency response efforts.

Bavi is the second typhoon to hit China within a week. Typhoon Maysak made landfall in the southern province of Hainan on July 3 before sweeping into the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, where a breached dam sent floodwaters through the city of Nanning, killing at least 39 people, according to Chinese authorities.

Before reaching China, Bavi brushed past northern Taiwan and struck Japan’s southern Sakishima island chain, leaving tens of thousands of households without power in Okinawa’s Miyako region. Taiwan evacuated more than 14,000 people, mostly from mountainous areas, and canceled more than 900 international flights, effectively shutting down Taipei’s main international airport. Taiwan’s fire department reported 113 injuries, mostly from falls linked to wind and rain.

The storm also worsened seasonal monsoon rains in the southern Philippines, where landslides killed at least 17 people, mostly on the island of Mindanao, according to the country’s Office of Civil Defense.

Wenzhou resident Chen Qiuqin said she was more concerned for her elderly parents than for herself as the storm approached. “I was worried about the flowerpots on my mother’s balcony,” Chen said.

Bavi was expected to continue moving northwest while gradually weakening, the National Meteorological Center said. As of Sunday, Chinese authorities had not reported any storm-related damage or casualties from the typhoon’s landfall.