The second major storm to batter the coast in just over a week
For the second time in nine days, a powerful typhoon has swept across East Asia's densely populated coastlines, reminding the region that nature does not pause for recovery. Typhoon Bavi made landfall in China's Zhejiang province with winds near 144 kilometers per hour, having already left a trail of death and displacement across the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan. At least 17 lives were lost, 1.7 million people were uprooted from their homes, and the storm arrived before the wounds of its predecessor, Typhoon Maysak, had fully closed. In the rhythm of these successive disasters, communities and governments alike are forced to confront the deepening cost of living on a coastline increasingly tested by intensifying storms.
- Typhoon Bavi struck Zhejiang just nine days after Typhoon Maysak hit the same coast, giving emergency systems almost no time to reset before a second major crisis unfolded.
- In the Philippines, pre-dawn mudslides buried villages in Sarangani and Lanao del Sur, killing at least 17 people and leaving nearly 11,000 displaced in emergency shelters across the south.
- China mobilized one of its largest recent emergency evacuations — over 1.7 million people moved to safety in Zhejiang and Shanghai alone, with 17,000 rescue workers on standby in Fujian.
- Taiwan logged 113 injuries and evacuated more than 14,200 people, while Japan canceled over 200 flights across Okinawa's southern islands as Bavi's outer bands lashed communities.
- China issued both an orange typhoon alert and its first red rainstorm alert of the year, suspending schools, ferries, and high-speed rail while releasing $5.9 million in emergency relief funds.
- Bavi is expected to weaken as it tracks inland, but the back-to-back typhoon sequence has exposed the mounting strain that rapid-succession storms place on disaster response infrastructure and exhausted communities.
Typhoon Bavi came ashore along China's Zhejiang coast late Saturday night, the second major storm to strike the same stretch of eastern China in just over a week. Carrying sustained winds near 144 kilometers per hour, it had already swept through Japan's southern islands, Taiwan, and the Philippines before turning toward the mainland.
The scale of China's response was extraordinary. More than 1.7 million people were evacuated across Zhejiang and Shanghai before landfall, with the coastal city of Yuhuan at the storm's center. Shanghai relocated an additional 34,000 residents from high-risk zones, and Fujian province stationed over 17,000 emergency workers on standby. The urgency was sharpened by memory — Typhoon Maysak had struck the same region just nine days earlier. Authorities issued an orange typhoon alert and the year's first red rainstorm alert, suspending schools, ferries, and portions of the high-speed rail network. The central government released 40 million yuan in disaster relief funds.
The human cost had already accumulated before Bavi reached China. In the Philippines, typhoon-intensified monsoon rains triggered devastating landslides. A pre-dawn mudslide in Malapatan, Sarangani province killed at least ten people; a separate slide in Lanao del Sur killed five more. Two additional drowning deaths were reported in Bukidnon. In all, at least 17 people died and roughly 11,000 were displaced to emergency shelters across the southern islands.
Taiwan recorded 113 injuries, many among motorcycle riders caught in wind-driven rain, and evacuated more than 14,200 people from Hualien and Taichung. Japan's Okinawa prefecture issued warnings for storm surge and high waves, with over 200 flights canceled across the southern islands.
As Bavi moved inland and began to weaken, the broader picture it left behind was one of compounding strain — on infrastructure, on emergency workers, and on communities still absorbing the blow of the storm that came before it.
Typhoon Bavi crossed into China's Zhejiang province late Saturday night, marking the second major storm to batter the eastern coast in just over a week. The system arrived with maximum sustained winds near 144 kilometers per hour, having already carved a path of damage across Japan's southern islands, Taiwan, and the Philippines before turning its full force on the Chinese mainland.
By Saturday morning, authorities in Zhejiang had already moved more than 1.7 million people to safety—a staggering mobilization that continued even as the storm made landfall near the coastal city of Yuhuan. Shanghai, sitting directly on the eastern seaboard, relocated an additional 34,000 residents from high-risk zones by noon. Further south in Fujian province, officials had positioned over 17,000 emergency rescue workers on standby, while the city of Ningde evacuated more than 3,700 people from vulnerable onshore areas. The scale of the precaution reflected hard lessons learned just nine days earlier, when Typhoon Maysak had struck the same region.
The disruption to daily life was immediate and sweeping. China's weather center issued an orange typhoon alert—the second-highest on its four-tier warning system—triggering the suspension of schools and ferry services across affected areas. Hundreds of flights were canceled, and some high-speed railway routes halted operations entirely. On Saturday, the center also issued the first red alert for rainstorms of the year, a designation reserved for the most severe precipitation events. The central government allocated 40 million yuan, roughly $5.9 million, in disaster relief funds to support Zhejiang and Fujian in their prevention and emergency response efforts.
The human toll was already visible across the wider region before Bavi even reached China. In the Philippines, monsoon rains that the typhoon had intensified triggered catastrophic landslides. In the coastal town of Malapatan in Sarangani province, a mudslide struck before dawn Friday, killing at least ten villagers and leaving three others missing. A separate landslide in Calanogas town in Lanao del Sur province killed five more people, with six unaccounted for. Two additional deaths by drowning were reported in Bukidnon province on Wednesday. In total, at least 17 people died across the Philippines, with about 11,000 villagers displaced to 77 emergency shelters in the southern provinces.
Taiwan recorded 113 injuries as of Saturday evening, many sustained by motorcycle riders navigating rain-slicked roads in dangerous winds. More than 14,200 people were evacuated from vulnerable areas, including the eastern county of Hualien and the central city of Taichung. Schools and offices across most of the island suspended operations for the day. In Japan's Okinawa prefecture, authorities issued warnings for high waves, storm surge, and severe winds. More than 200 flights were canceled across the southern islands, where strong winds and heavy rain battered communities including Ishigaki.
As Bavi moved inland from its Zhejiang landfall, China's meteorological center predicted the system would gradually weaken while tracking northwestward. The evacuation of 1.7 million people represented one of the largest emergency displacements in recent memory, a measure of both the storm's intensity and the density of population in China's eastern provinces. For a region that had barely begun recovery from Maysak's impact, the arrival of a second major typhoon in nine days underscored the mounting pressure that rapid-succession storms place on disaster response systems and vulnerable communities.
Notable Quotes
Bavi is expected to move northwestward inland after making landfall in Yuhuan— China's National Meteorological Center
About 11,000 villagers moved to 77 emergency shelters in southern Philippine provinces due to stormy weather— Office of Civil Defense deputy administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why evacuate 1.7 million people before a typhoon even arrives? Isn't that an overreaction?
It's not. Zhejiang is one of the most densely populated coastal regions in the world. A typhoon with 144 kph winds can turn a residential area into a death trap in hours—flying debris, storm surge, structural collapse. They learned this from Maysak nine days before. The evacuation is the difference between manageable disruption and catastrophe.
So this is the second typhoon in nine days. Is that unusual?
It's not unheard of, but it's brutal. The first storm tears through infrastructure, displaces people, strains rescue resources. Then before anyone can fully recover, another one arrives. The Philippines saw seventeen deaths just from landslides triggered by the monsoon rains Bavi intensified—that's before the main storm even hit them.
Why did the Philippines get hit so much harder in terms of deaths?
Geography and infrastructure. Mountainous terrain in Sarangani and Lanao del Sur provinces means heavy rain becomes landslides very quickly. The Philippines doesn't have the same resources for mass evacuation that China does. Eleven thousand people were displaced there, but that's a fraction of what China moved.
What happens to those 1.7 million people now?
They wait. Schools are closed, transport is halted. They're in shelters or with relatives inland. The storm weakens as it moves north and inland, so within days they can begin returning. But the economic cost is enormous—canceled flights, suspended rail service, lost work days.
Is this going to happen again next year?
Almost certainly. Typhoon season in the Western Pacific runs through November. Climate patterns suggest these storms are intensifying. What's changing is the frequency and the intensity, not the season itself.