Stocks halted, schools closed and more: How Taiwan prepares for Typhoon Bavi before it hits China | Today’s news
Typhoon Bavi is forecast to hit northern and eastern Taiwan as well as Japan’s outlying southwestern islands on Friday and Saturday before making landfall in China, which has already been ravaged by deadly storms this week.
Authorities in Taiwan have evacuated hundreds of residents and closed schools and offices as the strongest typhoon to threaten the region in decades approaches. The government also suspended trading on Taiwan’s stock exchange on Friday, with the massive storm expected to unleash heavy rainfall across much of the island, Bloomberg reports.
Bavi is currently 713 kilometers (443 miles) south of the Japanese island of Okinawa and is steadily moving northwest toward China’s east coast, according to the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The system is packing strong sustained winds of 157 kilometers per hour, equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane.
According to the forecast, the storm is not expected to cross Taiwan’s coast, but the island will be hit by torrential rain that could lead to widespread flooding. Offices were closed Friday and Taiwanese carriers including Eva Air Corp., China Airlines Ltd. and Starlux Airlines Co. canceled flights throughout Saturday, according to officials at Taipei Taoyuan, the island’s largest airport.
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“Taipei is less likely to get a direct eyewall hit or an overhead center pass, but it’s still not a ‘miss’.” The Bavi wind field is large enough to still have a period of very severe weather in northern Taiwan even if the center remains offshore, and even a slight shift in track could significantly increase wind impacts,” said James Caron, Director of Meteorological Operations for North America and Asia at Atmospheric G2.
“The remnants and clouds of moisture could bring significant rain inland and to the north even after the damaging winds die down. This allows for flooding to the north and inland from the potential landfall,” Caron added.
Evacuation in Zhejiang
After moving past eastern Taiwan, Typhoon Bavi is forecast to make landfall along China’s Fujian coast on Saturday night, bringing maximum sustained winds of up to 173 kilometers per hour, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said. Combined with the moisture-laden southwest monsoon, the storm is expected to unleash heavy rainfall across large parts of the country, which is still recovering from recent bouts of severe weather.
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The CMA said Zhejiang and Fujian provinces could see up to 600 millimeters (23.6 in) by Sunday, while parts of Beijing and Hebei could see up to 350 millimeters over the same period.
More than 17,000 people were evacuated in Zhejiang province, while around 170,000 emergency units were on standby, according to the official Xinhua news agency. In neighboring Fujian, authorities suspended several ferry lines and ordered fishing vessels to return to port due to strong winds and rough sea conditions.
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Elsewhere in southern China, officials said Thursday that flooding caused by Tropical Storm Maysak has killed 39 people after days of record rainfall inundated parts of the Guangxi region.
Torrential downpours caused reservoirs to overflow, including the partial collapse of the Hengzhou Dam, which sent muddy water flooding into surrounding areas. The floodwater trapped residents in the upper floors of the buildings for several days, many without electricity, until rescue teams could reach them.
Deadly week of extreme weather in China
In central China, strong thunderstorms and tornadoes killed 11 people in Hubei province on Monday evening.
In a separate incident, a landslide unrelated to the storms claimed the lives of 21 forestry workers in western China’s Gansu province on Tuesday.
