One hundred thirty-four people sustained injuries in Taiwan as Typhoon Bavi brought strong winds and heavy rain across the island. These injuries, reported by Taiwan’s fire department, were primarily from falling off motorbikes, slipping, or being struck by objects. No deaths were reported. The storm, the most powerful to strike mainland China this year, weakened to a tropical storm by Sunday morning as it pushed inland.
The Human Cost
Nearly 2 million people were evacuated ahead of Bavi’s arrival, mostly in Zhejiang province. In Yueqing, a city that experienced the storm's second landfall, resident Li Liangxing described the intensity. "When it made landfall last night, the winds were very strong," he said. He recounted hearing roof tiles and tree branches falling. "Of course we were scared, but we live by the sea, so we're used to it," Li added, highlighting the normalized precarity faced by coastal communities. He also noted unprecedented flooding, gesturing toward a canal where a walkway had disappeared underwater.
Taiwan’s transport ministry cancelled 137 international flights and 62 domestic trips on Sunday, disrupting travel for countless workers and families. This widespread disruption extended to China’s transport networks. In Hangzhou, Zhejiang’s provincial capital, two major train stations suspended all services. Xiaoshan International Airport cancelled 327 flights. Neighboring Shanghai saw even greater disruption, with 1,620 train trips and 684 flights cancelled, according to state-backed The Paper.
Infrastructure Under Strain
Typhoon Bavi struck Zhejiang’s coastal city of Yuhuan on Saturday evening before making a second landfall in Yueqing. More than 1,300 trees fell across Yueqing, with over 700 uprooted entirely, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Flooding reached roughly half the height of a vehicle tire in some areas. Emergency crews deployed excavators and chainsaws on Sunday to clear waterlogged streets littered with fallen trees, attempting to restore basic infrastructure. Footage aired by CCTV showed a landslide in the city’s mountainous north, sending large boulders onto a mountain road and submerging nearby trees in swollen river waters.
Climate's Unfolding Crisis
Forecasters warned that the France-sized storm system could unleash prolonged and widespread rainfall across eastern and northern China in the coming days. Benjamin Horton, dean of the School of Energy and Environment at the City University of Hong Kong, emphasized the systemic challenge. "Rapid intensification (of typhoons) reduces preparation time for communities and emergency managers, making these events particularly challenging," he stated. Horton also warned that regions near Bavi’s path could receive several hundred millimeters of rain in days, increasing the risk of flooding, landslides, and urban inundation. Scientists have cautioned that China could face more extreme weather this year with the expected emergence of the El Nino weather pattern, which can drive up temperatures and shift typhoon tracks westward toward the country’s coast, further exposing communities to environmental hazards.