Even weakened, it carries an enormous volume of moisture
For the second time in a single week, the coastlines of eastern China have bent beneath the weight of a major typhoon, as Bavi — a storm stretching the breadth of France — came ashore near Taizhou and Wenzhou, prompting the displacement of nearly two million people. The storm had already carved a path of grief across the Philippines, Japan, and Taiwan before reaching the Chinese mainland, where communities were still counting the losses left by Typhoon Maysak's 39 deaths. In the long human story of living alongside the sea, this moment speaks to the compounding nature of natural forces — and to the quiet heroism of mass evacuation as an act of collective care.
- A typhoon the width of France made two separate landfalls on China's eastern coast within hours, putting tens of millions of people in its path.
- Before it ever reached China, Bavi had already killed 17 in Philippine landslides, injured five in Japan, and threatened Taiwan with catastrophic flooding — the storm arrived with a history.
- Authorities evacuated more than 1.7 million people from Zhejiang province alone, shutting schools, cancelling hundreds of flights, and emptying supermarket shelves as residents braced for the worst.
- The blow lands on communities still raw from Typhoon Maysak just days earlier — 39 dead, livestock wiped out, and rare tornadoes still fresh in memory — leaving little time to recover before the next crisis.
- Forecasters expect the storm to weaken as it pushes northwest, but warn that its vast moisture reserves still threaten exceptionally heavy rainfall across Zhejiang and Fujian provinces.
Nearly two million people were ordered to leave their homes in eastern China as Typhoon Bavi made landfall over the weekend — the second major storm to strike the region in just seven days. The system, stretching roughly 1,000 kilometers at its widest, came ashore first near Taizhou on Saturday evening, then crossed the coast again near Wenzhou around midnight. Authorities in Zhejiang province moved more than 1.7 million residents to safety, with hundreds of thousands more displaced in neighboring areas and Beijing ordering an additional 100,000 to evacuate.
Bavi's destruction began long before it reached China. Starting as a super typhoon, it battered Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands with winds near 290 kilometers per hour, then weakened as it crossed open water toward Japan's Ryukyu island chain, injuring five and cutting power to thousands. Taiwan, though spared a direct hit, still saw thousands evacuated and faced the threat of landslides from extreme rainfall. In the Philippines, the storm's outer bands triggered deadly landslides that killed at least 17 people.
The scale of the response inside China reflected both the storm's size and the sheer density of population in its path. Wenzhou, a city of roughly ten million, saw hundreds of thousands of its residents relocated. Schools closed, workplaces suspended operations, outdoor activities were banned, and some 400 flights were cancelled. Though Bavi had weakened to a severe tropical storm by landfall, meteorologists cautioned that its enormous rain bands still posed a serious flood threat across eastern Zhejiang and northeastern Fujian.
What made the moment especially heavy was its timing. Typhoon Maysak had swept through southern China just days before, killing at least 39 people, devastating livestock, and spawning rare tornadoes in Hubei province. Communities were still assessing that damage when warnings arrived of another approaching system. For the people of Zhejiang and the surrounding provinces, the back-to-back storms became an extraordinary test — not only of infrastructure and emergency systems, but of the deeper human capacity to endure, adapt, and begin again.
Nearly two million people have been ordered to leave their homes in eastern China as Typhoon Bavi made landfall over the weekend, marking the second major storm to strike the region in just seven days. The system, which stretches across 1,000 kilometers at its widest point—roughly the span of France—first came ashore in the coastal city of Taizhou on Saturday evening, then crossed the coast again near Wenzhou around midnight. The evacuation orders affected primarily Zhejiang province, where authorities moved more than 1.7 million residents to safety, with hundreds of thousands more displaced in neighboring regions and Beijing ordering an additional 100,000 people to leave their homes.
Before reaching China, Bavi had already left a trail of destruction across the Pacific. The storm began as a super typhoon, battering Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands last Monday with winds reaching 290 kilometers per hour. As it weakened slightly while crossing open water, it struck Japan's Sakishima islands, part of the Ryukyu chain that sits between Japan's main islands and Taiwan. At least five people were injured there, and thousands lost power. Taiwan, though spared a direct hit, still saw thousands forced from their homes and faced the threat of landslides from torrential rainfall that could have exceeded one meter. In the Philippines, the storm's outer bands triggered landslides that killed at least 17 people before the system ever reached China.
The scale of the evacuation reflects the storm's size and the density of population in its path. Wenzhou alone, a city of roughly ten million people, sits close enough to the storm's trajectory that authorities evacuated hundreds of thousands of its residents. Schools across Zhejiang have closed, workplaces have suspended operations, and outdoor activities have been prohibited. Four hundred flights have been cancelled, along with dozens of train services. Supermarket shelves have been stripped bare as residents rushed to stock supplies before the heaviest rains arrived.
Meteorologists warned that Bavi, though weakened to the status of a severe tropical storm by the time it reached China, still posed a serious threat because of the enormous volume of moisture contained within its rain bands. Authorities forecast exceptionally heavy rainfall across eastern Zhejiang and northeastern Fujian province on Sunday, with the storm expected to gradually lose intensity as it moves northwest. Officials described the evacuations as a precautionary measure undertaken to guard against worst-case scenarios.
The timing of Bavi's arrival compounds the region's misery. Just days earlier, Typhoon Maysak had swept through southern China, leaving at least 39 people dead and causing massive agricultural losses through the death of large numbers of livestock. That same storm spawned two rare tornadoes in the central Hubei province, an unusual phenomenon for the region. Communities were still assessing damage and beginning recovery efforts when warnings arrived that another major system was approaching. For residents of Zhejiang and surrounding provinces, the back-to-back storms represent an extraordinary test of infrastructure, emergency response systems, and human resilience.
Citações Notáveis
Evacuations were undertaken entirely to guard against the worst-case scenario— Chinese authorities
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why evacuate 1.7 million people for a storm that's already weakened to tropical-storm status? Isn't that overcautious?
The size matters more than the category. Bavi spans a thousand kilometers. Even weakened, it carries an enormous volume of moisture—the rain itself becomes the hazard. You're not just protecting against wind anymore; you're protecting against flooding and landslides that can kill as easily as a hurricane.
But Taiwan didn't evacuate everyone, and they're closer to where it formed.
Taiwan got lucky with the track. Bavi brushed past them rather than hitting them directly. China's authorities looked at the forecast path and saw Wenzhou—ten million people—sitting in the way. You don't get a second chance with that many lives at stake.
What makes this week different from other typhoon seasons?
Two major storms in seven days is brutal. Maysak already killed 39 people and devastated agriculture. Communities haven't finished burying their dead or replanting fields. Now they're being told to leave again. The exhaustion is real, not just physical but psychological.
The Philippines deaths—were those unavoidable?
Landslides triggered by heavy rain are hard to predict precisely. Seventeen people died before the storm even reached China. That's the hidden cost of these systems: they kill across borders, in places that barely make the news.
What happens to those 1.7 million people while they're evacuated?
That's the question nobody asks. Shelters, temporary housing, lost wages for people who can't work. The evacuation itself is a kind of disaster—necessary, but costly in ways that don't show up in death tolls.