More than 17,000 people were evacuated in China's Zhejiang province Friday as Typhoon Bavi bore down on the nation's east coast, capping a devastating week that's already claimed 50 lives across the country from multiple storm systems. The powerful typhoon packed maximum sustained winds of 162 kilometers per hour as it churned toward one of China's most economically vital regions.
Immediate Response
Chinese authorities deployed 170,000 rescue workers on standby in Zhejiang province alone, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Fujian province suspended ferry routes and ordered fishing boats back to port as strong winds and rough seas threatened coastal operations. The typhoon was forecast to make landfall Saturday night south of Shanghai, near the border between Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, putting two of China's key manufacturing and export centers in its path.
The storm was first expected to pass north of Taiwan, bringing heavy rains to the island of 23 million people from Friday night into Saturday. Schools closed Friday in Taipei, Taiwan's capital, while fishing boats crowded together in northern ports. Taiwan's Central News Agency reported numerous flight cancellations to Japan, Hong Kong and other destinations through Saturday, though some flights remained scheduled. The typhoon's northwest track would take it over remote Japanese islands before passing north of Taiwan on Saturday.
Bavi had weakened from supertyphoon strength earlier this week, when it brought violent winds to Saipan and other U.S. territories in the Pacific. Still, winds of 101 miles per hour posed significant threats to coastal infrastructure and shipping operations.
Compounding Disasters
The approaching typhoon struck as southern China continued grappling with the aftermath of Tropical Storm Maysak, which killed 39 people in Guangxi province after days of record rainfall. The deluge breached multiple reservoirs, including the dramatic collapse of part of a dam in Hengzhou that sent fast-flowing muddy water across a wide area. Floods stranded residents on second and higher floors of buildings for days, many without power, until rescue teams could reach them.
Another 11 people died in central China when severe thunderstorms and tornadoes struck Hubei province Monday night. In a separate disaster not related to the storms, a landslide killed 21 forestry workers in western China's Gansu province on Tuesday.
Economic Disruption
The succession of weather disasters hit regions critical to China's manufacturing and agricultural output. The Fujian-Zhejiang coastal corridor serves as a major hub for electronics production, textiles and port operations. Ferry suspensions and flight cancellations disrupted supply chains already strained by the earlier flooding in Guangxi. The dam collapse in Hengzhou raised questions about infrastructure maintenance and the capacity of aging water management systems to handle extreme weather events.
Taiwan's flight cancellations affected business travel and tourism during what's typically a busy summer season. The island's position as a global semiconductor manufacturing center meant even brief disruptions to operations carried outsized economic consequences.
Why This Matters:
The rapid succession of deadly storms across China exposes vulnerabilities in infrastructure that underpins the world's second-largest economy. When a dam partially collapses and 170,000 rescue workers must be mobilized for a single province, the fiscal burden falls on government resources already stretched by pandemic recovery efforts. The 50 deaths across multiple provinces in one week highlight the human cost of inadequate disaster preparedness. For Taiwan, school closures and flight cancellations demonstrate how even a near-miss from a major typhoon can disrupt daily commerce and travel. The concentration of manufacturing and port operations in the storm's path means supply chain disruptions will ripple through global markets, affecting everything from consumer electronics to shipping schedules.