Typhoon Bavi strengthens, heads for China after hitting Taiwan

Typhoon Bavi has intensified into a strong typhoon as it advances toward China's eastern coast, with landfall anticipated early Sunday. The storm grazed Taiwan, bringing torrential rains, causing at least 13 injuries, and prompting the preventive evacuation of nearly 9,000 people.

China's National Meteorological Center maintained a orange alert for Bavi, which regained its strong typhoon status overnight. As of early Saturday, it was located approximately 560 kilometers southeast of the border between Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, packing maximum sustained winds of 42 meters per second and moving northwest at 30-35 kilometers per hour.

Forecasters predict Bavi will make landfall on the coast between Taizhou in Zhejiang and Fuding in Fujian early Sunday. It is expected to arrive as a strong typhoon or typhoon before moving inland, turning north, and gradually weakening. Authorities anticipate winds of force 9 to 11, with gusts up to force 13, in parts of the East China Sea, Taiwan Strait, Hangzhou Bay, Zhoushan Archipelago, and the coasts of Zhejiang and northeastern Fujian through Sunday.

The meteorological center also warned of torrential to extremely heavy rainfall in eastern Zhejiang and northeastern Fujian, with accumulations potentially reaching 250 to 800 millimeters in some areas. The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Meteorological Administration issued a red alert for geological risks in eastern Zhejiang, urging evacuations from areas prone to landslides, ravines, cliffs, and waterways.

In response to the impending storm, Hangzhou Airport planned to cancel 198 flights on Saturday morning. Shanghai announced the cancellation of 387 flights at its two main airports, Pudong and Hongqiao. The coastal town of Xiaguan preemptively relocated over 11,000 residents. Bavi follows a week of severe weather in China, including Typhoon Maysak, which caused at least 39 deaths in Guangxi, a landslide in Gansu with 21 fatalities, and storms and tornadoes in Hubei resulting in eleven deaths.