China Hit by Second Typhoon in a Week as Bavi Makes Landfall

What happened

Typhoon Bavi has officially made landfall on China's eastern coast, marking the second major tropical cyclone to strike the nation within a single week. The storm first reached the coastal city of Taizhou on Saturday evening before making a second landfall near Wenzhou around midnight. Spanning approximately 1,000 kilometers at its widest point, the storm's massive rain bands have brought exceptionally heavy rains to Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. While the storm has technically weakened to a severe tropical storm after its initial peak, its sheer volume of moisture continues to pose a significant threat to infrastructure and public safety. Authorities have responded with a massive mobilization effort, ordering the evacuation of nearly two million people from high-risk zones to avoid a worst-case scenario during the overnight surge.

What's new in this update

This latest landfall follows a destructive path through the Pacific where Bavi evolved from a super typhoon with wind speeds reaching 290km/h near Guam to a slightly weakened but still dangerous system. The most recent data from state media confirms that over 1.7 million people have been displaced in Zhejiang province alone. In Wenzhou, a city of 10 million people, the local government has suspended all schools, outdoor activities, and work as the eye of the storm passed nearby. Additionally, transportation networks have been severely disrupted, with 400 flights and dozens of train services cancelled across the region. Beijing officials also ordered a precautionary evacuation of 100,000 people in specific vulnerable sectors to prevent casualties from secondary disasters like flash floods and mudslides.

Key details

Before reaching the Chinese mainland, Typhoon Bavi left a trail of destruction across the Pacific and East Asia. In the Philippines, landslides triggered by the storm's outer rain bands claimed the lives of at least 17 people. In Japan, the storm struck the Sakishima islands within the Ryukyu chain, causing injuries to five people and leaving thousands of households without electricity. Taiwan narrowly avoided a direct hit but still experienced significant disruption, with authorities warning of up to 1 meter of rainfall in certain areas. This led to thousands of residents fleeing mountainous regions due to the high risk of landslides. The storm's current trajectory suggests it will move north-west, gradually losing intensity but maintaining enough strength to cause dangerous flooding in inland provinces through Sunday.

Background and context

The arrival of Bavi comes at a precarious time for southern and eastern China, as the region is still grappling with the aftermath of Typhoon Maysak. That storm, which struck earlier in the week, was particularly lethal, resulting in at least 39 confirmed deaths and the loss of vast numbers of livestock. Maysak also spurred two rare tornadoes in the central Hubei province, an unusual meteorological occurrence that added to the complexity of the recovery efforts. The cumulative effect of these sequential storms has left the ground saturated and drainage systems overwhelmed, making the current rainfall from Bavi even more dangerous than it might have been in isolation. Agricultural losses from the previous storm have already reached massive levels, and Bavi threatens to exacerbate this economic damage.

What to watch next

Meteorological experts are monitoring Bavi as it moves further into eastern Zhejiang and northeastern Fujian. The primary concern for the remainder of the weekend is the potential for record-breaking rainfall and the resulting flash floods in dense urban centers. Local authorities remain on high alert, maintaining suspensions on work and travel until the storm system fully dissipates. Observers are also looking at the broader climatic trend, as the frequency and intensity of these back-to-back typhoons raise questions about regional weather patterns and the long-term resilience of coastal infrastructure. In the immediate future, the focus remains on recovery and assessing the total agricultural and infrastructure loss once the rain bands finally clear the mainland and the threat of further landslides diminishes.