More than 1 million evacuated as Typhoon Bavi makes landfall in China
Typhoon Bavi made landfall in China's eastern province of Zhejiang late on Saturday night and was expected to gradually weaken, according to China's national weather centre.
Bavi previously brought strong winds and rain to Japan's southern islands and Taiwan.
It was the second typhoon to impact China in just over a week's time.
The first, Maysak, made landfall in southern China on July 3.
Chinese authorities have evacuated more than 1.7 million people as of Saturday and issued high alerts while eastern China braced for Bavi, which had maximum sustained winds of 144 kph near its centre.
Read more Typhoon Bavi forces Taiwan evacuations, batters Japan islands
After passing north of Taiwan on Saturday and making landfall in the coastal city of Yuhuan in Zhejiang, Bavi is expected to move northwestward inland, the National Meteorological Centre said.
Earlier, at least 17 people were killed in the southern Philippines, mostly due to landslides that were set off by seasonal monsoon rains that Bavi intensified before the typhoon blew away toward Taiwan, Philippine officials said Saturday.
Authorities in Zhejiang had evacuated more than 1.7 million people by Saturday morning, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
By noon, Shanghai, also on China's eastern coast, relocated around 34,000 residents from high-risk areas, according to Xinhua. Southeastern Chinese cities near the coast prepared for the impacts.
In Ningde in Fujian province, more than 3,700 people were relocated from high-risk onshore areas as of Friday evening, Xinhua said.
Authorities in Fujian province placed over 17,000 emergency rescue workers on standby. China's weather centre issued an orange typhoon alert, the second-highest on a four-tier level, with many schools and ferry services suspended.
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled, and some high-speed railway services halted. The centre on Saturday also issued the first red alert for rainstorms of the year, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Chinese authorities said Saturday they have allocated 40 million yuan ($5.9 million) in central natural disaster relief funds to support Zhejiang and Fujian provinces' typhoon prevention and emergency rescue and relief efforts.
Read more Biggest typhoon in decades nears Taiwan after landslides kill 15 in Philippines
In the Philippines, a landslide set off by monsoon rains that Bavi intensified hit a village before dawn Friday in the coastal town of Malapatan in southern Sarangani province, killing at least 10 villagers and leaving three others missing, Office of Civil Defence spokesperson Diego Mariano said.
A separate landslide in Calanogas town in southern Lanao del Sur province before dawn on Friday killed five people, with six others missing, he said.
Two people drowned in floodwaters Wednesday in the southern province of Bukidnon, Mariano said without providing other details.
Office of Civil Defence deputy administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said about 11,000 villagers moved to 77 emergency shelters mostly in southern Philippine provinces in recent days due to the stormy weather.
As of Saturday at 7pm, Taiwanese authorities registered at least 113 injuries from Typhoon Bavi, some sustained while riding motorcycles in rain and winds on slippery roads.
More than 14,200 people had also been evacuated around the island, including from the eastern county of Hualien and the central city of Taichung.
Schools and offices in most parts of Taiwan were suspended Saturday.
Across Japan's southern islands in the prefecture of Okinawa, local authorities earlier warned of high waves, strong winds and storm surges, with more than 200 flights cancelled across the region, according to Japan's public broadcaster NHK.
Strong winds and rain had hit islands including Ishigaki.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)