TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Chinese authorities evacuated more than one million people on Saturday and issued high alerts as eastern China braced for Typhoon Bavi, which has brought strong winds and rain to Japan's southern islands and Taiwan.
Earlier, at least 17 people were killed in the southern Philippines, mostly due to landslides that were set off by seasonal monsoon rains that Bavi intensified before the typhoon blew away toward Taiwan, Philippine officials
said Saturday.
With maximum sustained winds of 144 kph (89 mph) near its center, Bavi is passing north of Taiwan on Saturday, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration. It is expected to move toward Zhejiang in eastern China and, according to China’s National Meteorological Center, make landfall before midnight or in the early hours of Sunday and then move inland.
Authorities in the Zhejiang province have evacuated more than 1.7 million people as of Saturday morning, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Shanghai, also on China’s eastern coast, relocated around 34,000 residents from high-risk areas by Saturday noon, according to Xinhua.
In southeastern China, cities near the coast are preparing for the impacts of Typhoon Bavi. In the city of Ningde in Fujian province, more than 3,700 people were relocated from high-risk onshore areas as of Friday evening, Xinhua said. Authorities in Fujian province have placed over 17,000 emergency rescue workers on standby.
China’s National Meteorological Center issued an orange typhoon alert, the second-highest on a four-tier level, with many schools and ferry services suspended. Hundreds of flights have been canceled, and some high-speed railway services halted.
The center on Saturday also issued the first red alert for rainstorms of the year, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Chinese authorities said Saturday they have allocated 40 million yuan ($5.9 million) in central natural disaster relief funds to support Zhejiang and Fujian provinces’ typhoon prevention and emergency rescue and relief efforts.
In the Philippines, a landslide set off by monsoon rains that Bavi intensified hit a village before dawn Friday in the coastal town of Malapatan in southern Sarangani province, killing at least 10 villagers and leaving three others missing, Office of Civil Defense spokesperson Diego Mariano said.
A separate landslide in Calanogas town in southern Lanao del Sur province before dawn on Friday killed five people, with six others missing, he said.
Two people drowned in floodwaters Wednesday in the southern province of Bukidnon, Mariano said without providing other details.
Office of Civil Defense deputy administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said about 11,000 villagers moved to 77 emergency shelters mostly in southern Philippine provinces in recent days due to the stormy weather.
As of Saturday at 8 a.m., Taiwanese authorities registered at least 87 injuries from Typhoon Bavi, some sustained while riding motorcycles in rain and winds on slippery roads.
More than 14,200 people had also been evacuated around the island, including from the eastern county of Hualien and the central city of Taichung. Schools and offices in most parts of Taiwan were suspended Saturday.
Across Japan’s southern islands in the prefecture of Okinawa, local authorities have warned of high waves, strong winds and storm surges, with more than 200 flights canceled across the region, according to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK. Strong winds and rain have hit islands including Ishigaki.
