Hundreds of thousands evacuated as Typhoon Bavi barrels towards China 

More than 600,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in China as Typhoon Bavi barrels towards the country after hitting Japan’s Sakishima islands and grazing northern Taiwan.

Chinese authorities said on Saturday more than half a million people were evacuated in the eastern Zhejiang province and another 100,000 in neighbouring Fujian province.

Bavi is expected to make landfall in Wenzhou, a densely populated city in Zhejiang, in the early hours of Sunday, and is expected to bring heavy rains.

Although significantly weakened since it thundered through the US Pacific islands on Monday and tracked northwest, Typhoon Bavi remains a significant risk due to the large volumes of moisture it carries in its rain bands.

In China, the national weather agency 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.

“I’m a little worried, but I think it’ll be OK,” Wenzhou resident Huang Xinghuan, 50, told Reuters news agency while buying groceries at a traditional wet market before it closed ahead of the typhoon.

His family, he said, had stocked about two or three days’ water, and food supplies remain guaranteed.

“We’ve been through typhoons before. We’ll get through it,” he added.

In Ningde city, Fujian province, more than 3,700 people were evacuated from high-risk onshore areas by Friday evening, Xinhua news agency 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.

In Taiwan, where Bavi is expected to sweep past on Saturday according to the island’s Central Weather Administration, at least 36 people have been injured – mainly while riding motorcycles on slippery roads in the heavy rain and winds.

Some 14,210 people were evacuated across the island by Saturday morning, particularly from the city of Taichung and the county of Hualien. Schools, offices and most restaurants across Taiwan have been closed.

Meanwhile, more than 200 flights were cancelled across Japan as authorities in the southern Okinawa prefecture warned of high waves, strong winds and storm surges. Strong winds and rain have hit the southern Sakishima island chain – administered under Okinawa – since Friday.