China evacuated more than 1.8 million people on Saturday as Typhoon Bavi churned toward Wenzhou, a major eastern city of about 10 million people, after pounding Japan's southern Sakishima island chain and brushing past northern Taiwan. The storm kept its punch even as it slowed over cooler seas, carrying a huge mass of moisture in rain bands about the size of France from end to end. Ordinary people moved, shut down, stocked up, and waited. The apparatus moved first.
Who Pays for the Storm
State media said more than 1.7 million people had been evacuated across Zhejiang province, where Wenzhou is located, and more than 100,000 in neighbouring Fujian province. The National Meteorological Center said Bavi had maximum sustained winds of 144 km per hour, or 90 mph, equivalent to Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, and was about 200 km southeast of Wenling in Zhejiang at 0808 GMT. The typhoon was forecast to make landfall around Wenzhou early on Sunday. That means the people in its path are the ones who absorb the cost, while decisions and warnings come from above.
In Wenzhou, resident Huang Xinghuan, 50, said he was out buying groceries at a traditional wet market before it closed ahead of the typhoon. "I'm a little worried, but I think it'll be OK. We've been through typhoons before. We'll get through it," he said. Huang said his family had stocked about two to three days' worth of water. "I think supplies are well guaranteed now. There's no need to panic or stockpile a lot of food or other supplies," he added. That’s the human scale here: families counting water, markets closing, and people trying to make do while the storm and the state both set the terms.
What the Authorities Closed
In Taiwan, the government evacuated more than 14,000 people from mainly mountainous areas as the island shut down for Bavi’s approach to the north. The government took precautions to prevent loss of life, given forecasts for almost 1 metre of rain in some areas. Most of those evacuated were in the north and east. The shutdown hit 920 international flights, effectively closing Taiwan's main international airport at Taoyuan, outside Taipei, as well as all 282 domestic flights.
Almost all cities and counties across Taiwan declared a typhoon holiday for Saturday, closing offices and schools that may have been open on the weekend. In Taipei, some restaurants and convenience stores remained open. The main north-south high-speed rail line kept running, but with reduced service. The city didn’t stop entirely. It just narrowed, as public life bent around the weather and the institutions managing it.
Japan and Taiwan had not so far reported any deaths from the typhoon, but 17 people died in the Philippines due to heavy rains brought by an enhanced southwest monsoon, worsened by Bavi's impact. Taiwan's fire department said 87 people had been injured, mostly falls from motorcycles or bicycles, as well as people falling over or being struck by objects. The numbers sit there cold and plain. The damage lands on bodies, streets, and homes, not on the offices issuing the warnings.
People Keep Moving Anyway
In downtown Taipei, some people were still out on the street in blustery wind and rain. Yeh Mao-hsiung, 68, said, "It's OK, it's not that serious," while out for a morning walk with his dog. "It's just a little bit more wind," he said. In Beitou, in the foothills of the mountains surrounding the city, gusts of around 100 kph knocked down trees and swelled rivers. The storm didn’t ask permission. It never does.
In Wenzhou, Chen Qiuqin, in her 60s, walked through steady rain on her way to her parents' home to help them prepare for the typhoon. She said she was not too concerned given the government's preparations. "I was worried about the flowerpots on my mother's balcony, so I'm going to help move them inside. My parents are both elderly and they're home alone, so I wasn't at ease," she said. That’s the real work, right there: moving flowerpots, checking on elders, hauling care into place while the official machinery counts evacuees and flight cancellations.
Bavi was still a potent risk even after slowing and weakening on its northwesterly path over cooler seas because of the sheer volume of moisture it held. The storm stretched wide, the evacuations stretched wider, and the people underneath both had to adapt fast. The state can order movement, close airports, and declare holidays. It can’t stop the rain from falling where the poor, the old, and the exposed live.