Typhoon Bavi strikes China after second landfall in Zhejiang

Typhoon Bavi has made landfall in China, becoming the second typhoon to strike the country within a week and prompting the evacuation of nearly two million people from communities along its path.

The storm, measuring about 1,000 kilometres across at its broadest — roughly the width of France — first hit the coastal city of Taizhou on Saturday evening. It then came ashore again in Wenzhou around midnight.

Before reaching China, Bavi battered a string of remote Japanese islands and dumped heavy rain on Taiwan as it passed near the island’s northern tip. Earlier in its track, storm-triggered landslides killed at least 17 people in the Philippines.

Officials say the system has eased to a Category 1 typhoon, but the large amount of moisture in its rain bands means flooding and further rainfall remain a serious concern.