Typhoon Bavi hits China’s east coast with 145 km/h winds, 1.7 million evacuated

Typhoon Bavi made landfall in China's Zhejiang province at around 23:20 local time (17:20 CET) on Saturday, bringing winds of up to 145 km/h, the Xinhua news agency reported. The storm had earlier swept across northern Taiwan and remote southern Japanese islands. China's national meteorological centre expects Bavi to gradually weaken as it moves inland.

Bavi is the second typhoon to strike China in just over a week, following Typhoon Maysak on 3 July. In preparation, authorities evacuated more than 1.7 million people by Saturday. Shanghai alone relocated about 34,000 residents from high-risk areas by noon, while Fujian province placed over 17,000 rescue workers on standby. The meteorological centre issued an orange typhoon alert, the second-highest in a four-tier system, leading to the suspension of schools and ferry services, cancellation of hundreds of flights, and disruption of some high-speed train routes. The central government released 40 million yuan ($5.9 million) from its natural disaster relief fund to support prevention and rescue efforts in Zhejiang and Fujian.