Fifty lives have been extinguished across China this week, with an additional 21 forestry workers perishing in a separate disaster, as a series of powerful storms and a landslide expose the deep vulnerabilities of the working class. Tropical Storm Maysak alone claimed 39 lives in Guangxi, while another 11 died in Hubei province, underscoring the human cost of inadequate infrastructure and precarious living conditions.
Typhoon Bavi, with maximum sustained winds of 162 kilometers per hour, now bears down on China’s east coast. The storm's expected to pass north of Taiwan, bringing heavy rains to the island of 23 million people from Friday night into Saturday. Schools in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, closed Friday. Fishing boats, the lifeblood for many, were tied up close together in northern Taiwan ports. Many flights to Japan, Hong Kong, and other destinations have been canceled through Saturday, though some were still scheduled. The typhoon’s current northwest track would take it over some remote Japanese islands before passing to Taiwan’s north on Saturday. It was forecast to make landfall Saturday night south of Shanghai, near the border between Fujian and Zhejiang provinces.
Capital's Toll
The devastation wrought by Tropical Storm Maysak in southern China reveals the systemic underinvestment in public safety. Days of record rainfall in Guangxi led to widespread flooding, killing 39 people. Reservoirs breached their limits. A dam in Hengzhou dramatically collapsed, inundating a wide area with fast-flowing muddy water. This infrastructure failure left people stranded on the second and higher floors of buildings for days, many without power, awaiting rescue. The 11 deaths in central China, caused by severe thunderstorms and tornadoes hitting Hubei province on Monday night, further illustrate the precariousness of life for those without robust protections.
Beyond the storms, the inherent dangers of resource extraction labor claimed more lives. A landslide in western China’s Gansu province on Tuesday killed 21 forestry workers. This disaster wasn't storm-related, but it highlights the constant threat faced by those whose labor directly extracts value from the earth, often under hazardous conditions.
The State's Response
In Zhejiang, more than 17,000 people have been evacuated. The official Xinhua News Agency reported that 170,000 rescue workers were placed on standby, a massive deployment to manage the immediate crisis. Fujian authorities suspended some ferry routes due to strong winds and rough seas. They also called for fishing boats to return to port, a necessary measure that nonetheless halts the daily work of countless fishers. Bavi had weakened from supertyphoon strength earlier this week, after bringing violent winds to Saipan and other U.S. territories in the Pacific. The state mobilizes to contain the damage, yet the underlying vulnerabilities, from collapsing dams to unsafe labor practices, persist.