Typhoon Bavi nears China coast as deadly week of extreme weather worsens

Typhoon Bavi is nearing China's east coast after passing north of Taiwan. The storm is deepening disruption after a week of deadly weather across China.

In Short

• Bavi was expected to pass north of Taiwan before landfall on Saturday
• More than 17,000 people were evacuated in eastern China before impact
• Taipei shut schools and flight cancellations hit regional travel plans

A powerful typhoon was moving towards China’s east coast on Friday, the latest in a week of deadly weather that has already killed 50 people in two other parts of the country. Typhoon Bavi, with maximum sustained winds of 162 kilometres per hour, was expected to pass north of Taiwan before making landfall on the Chinese coast on Saturday night.

The storm was forecast to bring heavy rain to Taiwan from Friday night into Saturday and then head towards an area south of Shanghai, near the border of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces. In eastern China, authorities had already evacuated more than 17,000 people and put 170,000 rescue workers on standby.

Schools were closed on Friday in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, as the island of 23 million prepared for the storm. Fishing boats were tied up close together in ports in northern Taiwan, and many flights to Japan, Hong Kong and other destinations were cancelled through Saturday, though some were still scheduled, Taiwan’s Central News Agency said. Bavi was on a north-west track that would take it over some remote Japanese islands before passing to the north of Taiwan on Saturday.

In China, Zhejiang began evacuations ahead of the storm, while Fujian suspended some ferry services because of strong winds and rough seas and asked fishing boats to return to port. Bavi had weakened from its earlier supertyphoon strength this week, when it brought violent winds to Saipan and other US territories in the Pacific.

In southern China, authorities said on Thursday that 39 people had died in flooding caused by Tropical Storm Maysak, which brought record rainfall to parts of the Guangxi region over several days. The rain breached reservoirs, including the collapse of part of a dam in Hengzhou, sending fast-flowing muddy water across a wide area. People were stranded for days on the second floor and higher levels of buildings, many without power, until rescuers reached them.

Another 11 people were killed in central China when severe thunderstorms and tornadoes struck Hubei province on Monday night. In a separate incident not linked to the storms, a landslide killed 21 forestry workers in Gansu province in western China on Tuesday. As Bavi moved closer to the east coast, China and Taiwan were preparing for more heavy rain and strong winds after a week of deadly weather.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends