Typhoon Bavi has hit Zhejiang province in eastern China. According to the country’s state media, Bavi is expected to weaken gradually.
Citing the provincial weather agency, the Xinhua news agency said Typhoon Bavi made landfall on Chinese territory at 11:20 p.m. local time on Saturday. The storm had earlier brought strong winds and rain to Japan’s southern islands and Taiwan.
Bavi is the second typhoon to hit China in a little over a week; Typhoon Maysak had struck the country’s south over the previous weekend.
Chinese authorities evacuated more than 1.7 million people to safety on Saturday, and a high alert was issued in the east of the country. Bavi’s maximum wind speed near the center was 144 kilometers per hour, or about 89 miles per hour.
After making landfall, Bavi is moving further to the northwest and is therefore expected to weaken gradually. China’s national weather agency had earlier issued an “orange alert” for Bavi, the second-highest of the four levels of typhoon warning.
Because of the adverse weather, hundreds of flights were cancelled in China, train services were reduced, many educational institutions were closed and many ferry services were suspended.
Huang Jinghuan, who lives in the densely populated city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang, had done her shopping in advance, mindful of the typhoon warning. The 50-year-old Huang told Reuters: “I’m a little worried. But I think it will be all right.” She said she had bought two to three days’ worth of food and water for her family. “We have faced typhoons before. We will get through this time too,” she said.
17 dead in the Philippines, 134 injured in Taiwan. The Philippines is receiving heavy rain under the influence of a strong southwest monsoon, compounded by the effect of Typhoon Bavi on Friday night. At least 17 people have been reported dead in landslides caused by the adverse weather. In Taiwan, at least 134 people have been injured amid strong winds and heavy rain, according to the local weather office, many of them hurt in accidents while riding motorcycles on slippery roads. On Saturday morning, about 14,210 people were evacuated to safety in Taiwan, particularly from Taichung city and Hualien county, and schools, offices and most restaurants were closed across the island.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report