Storm forces evacuation of nearly two million people, uprooted trees, causes transport disruptions across eastern China
\n Wenzhou
\nTyphoon Bavi, the most powerful storm to strike mainland China this year, brought heavy rainfall to the eastern coast on Sunday and lashed densely populated cities with violent winds, testing the country\u2019s ability to cope with extreme weather.
\nBavi had weakened by Sunday morning to a tropical storm as it pushed inland, but forecasters warned that the France-sized storm system could unleash prolonged and widespread rainfall across eastern and northern China in the coming days.
\n Nearly two million people were evacuated ahead of Bavi\u2019s arrival, mostly in Zhejiang province, an economic and technological powerhouse in the world\u2019s second-largest economy.
\nBavi struck Zhejiang\u2019s coastal city of Yuhuan at around 11:20 pm (local time) on Saturday before making a second landfall in Yueqing, part of the city of Wenzhou, at around midnight.
\n\u201cWhen it made landfall last night, the winds were very strong,\u201d Yueqing resident Li Liangxing told Reuters. \u201cWe could hear roof tiles and tree branches falling. Of course we were scared, but we live by the sea, so we\u2019re used to it.\u201d
\nGesturing toward a flooded canal beside his residential compound, Li said he had never seen the water rise so high.
\n\u201cThere used to be a walkway there, but now it\u2019s underwater,\u201d he said.
\nMore than 1,300 trees fell across Yueqing, with more than 700 of them uprooted entirely, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The deepest flooding reached roughly half the height of a vehicle tire.
\nEmergency crews on Sunday deployed excavators and chainsaws to clear waterlogged streets littered with fallen trees.
\nIn the city\u2019s mountainous north, footage aired by CCTV showed a landslide that sent large boulders tumbling onto a mountain road, while swollen river waters submerged nearby trees.
\nFlights, trains disrupted
\nAs it approached China, Bavi passed northern Taiwan on Saturday, bringing strong winds and driving rain across much of the island. The storm dumped nearly 80cm (31 inches) of rain in one area in the northern county of Miaoli.
\nTaiwan\u2019s fire department said on Sunday that 134 people had been injured, mainly due to falling off motorbikes, slipping or being struck by objects. It reported no deaths. The transport ministry said 137 international flights had been cancelled on Sunday, along with 62 domestic trips.
\nThe disruption also extended to China\u2019s transport networks. In Zhejiang\u2019s provincial capital, Hangzhou, two major train stations suspended all services and 327 flights were cancelled at Xiaoshan International Airport.
\nIn neighbouring Shanghai, a total of 1,620 train trips and 684 flights were cancelled, state-backed The Paper reported.
\nAs Bavi churns further across China, regions near its path could receive several hundred millimetres of rain in a matter of days, raising the risk of flooding, landslides and urban inundation, said Benjamin Horton, the dean of the School of Energy and Environment at the City University of Hong Kong.
\n\u201cEven if the storm weakens after landfall, its large circulation can continue to generate destructive weather hundreds of kilometres inland,\u201d he said.
\nScientists have warned China could face more extreme weather this year with the expected emergence of the El Nino weather pattern, which can drive up temperatures and shift typhoon tracks westward toward the country\u2019s coast.
\n\u201cRapid intensification (of typhoons) reduces preparation time for communities and emergency managers, making these events particularly challenging,\u201d Horton said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Storm forces evacuation of nearly two million people, uprooted trees, causes transport disruptions across eastern China Wenzhou Typhoon Bavi, the most powerful storm to strike mainland China this year, brought heavy rainfall to the eastern coast on Sunday and lashed densely populated cities with violent winds, testing the country\u2019s ability to cope with extreme weather. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555939,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n