1.7 mn evacuated as typhoon Bavi wreaks havoc in China
Beijing, July 12
Typhoon Bavi, the ninth typhoon of the year, landed on the coast of east China's Zhejiang Province around 11:20 pm on Saturday, Xinhua reported, citing the Zhejiang provincial meteorological observatory.
Bavi previously brought strong winds and rain to Japan's southern islands and Taiwan. It was the second typhoon in a week to impact China in just more than a week's time. The first, Maysak, made landfall in southern China last weekend, Al Jazeera reported.
Chinese authorities evacuated more than 1.7 million people on Saturday and issued high alerts as eastern China braced for Bavi, which had maximum sustained winds of 144kph (89mph) near its centre.
Bavi is expected to move northwestward inland after making landfall, with its intensity gradually weakening. Although not as strong as when it thundered through the US Pacific islands on Monday and tracked northwest, Bavi remains a significant risk due to the large volumes of moisture it carries in its rain bands, as per Al Jazeera.
China's national weather agency earlier issued an orange typhoon alert - the second-highest on a four-level rating. Hundreds of flights have been cancelled, rail travel services have been reduced, and many schools and ferry services have been suspended.
In Ningde city, Fujian province, more than 3,700 people were evacuated from high-risk onshore areas by Friday evening, Xinhua said. Authorities there have placed more than 17,000 emergency rescue workers on standby.
Meanwhile, China's southern region of Hainan and Guangxi are still reeling from the effects of Tropical Storm Maysak earlier this week. At least 39 people died in the city of Nanning, where a breached dam sent torrents of water through the streets.
At least 17 people were killed in the Philippines after heavy rains brought on by an enhanced southwest monsoon and worsened by Bavi's impact triggered landslides overnight on Friday.
— ANI
Reader Comments
These super typhoons are becoming more frequent and intense - climate change is real. I feel for those in the Philippines who lost 17 lives. We should all be working together on disaster preparedness across Asia.
Massive operation! 1.7 million is like evacuating a small country. Our Indian disaster management teams could learn from this logistics - though we did well during Cyclone Fani in Odisha. Hope China's recovery is quick and efficient. 🙏
The cascading effects are scary - a dam breach in Nanning killing 39? That's a hidden danger we sometimes forget. Heavy rain plus infrastructure failure is a deadly combination. My thoughts with all affected communities.
This is terrifying! Two typhoons in a week? Maysak and then Bavi - no time for people to recover. And the Philippines affected too by the southwest monsoon interaction. We need better regional warning systems in Asia. BC (Before Cyclone) preparation is key! 😔
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