Typhoon Bavi approaches Hangzhou, China evacuates nearly 2 million people urgently.
As of the afternoon of July 12th, despite weakening into a severe tropical storm, Typhoon Bavi continued to dump massive amounts of rain on eastern China, forcing authorities to evacuate nearly 2 million people and cancel thousands of flights and train services.
On the morning of July 12th, the eye of Typhoon Bavi moved to the vicinity of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, with wind speeds of level 10 (approximately 108 km/h).
In preparation for a worst-case scenario, a large-scale evacuation campaign was activated. According to Xinhua News Agency, 1.72 million people in Zhejiang, along with hundreds of thousands of residents in Fujian, Shanghai, and Beijing, were urgently relocated. Traffic in major economic centers on China's east coast came to a near standstill.
According to The Paper, the financial hub of Shanghai and Zhejiang province have had to cancel nearly 1,000 flights and more than 1,600 train services. All school, office, and outdoor activities have been suspended.
Earlier, Typhoon Bavi made landfall in Yuhuan City (Zhejiang) at 11:20 PM on July 11th with wind gusts of 144 km/h. CCTV and social media reports indicated that the storm uprooted more than 1,300 trees in Yueqing City and turned many streets in Wenzhou, a metropolis of 10 million people, into flooded areas.
Fortunately, China has not reported any casualties so far.
According to AFP, before making landfall in mainland China, Bavi was a super typhoon that swept through several countries. Heavy rains caused by the storm's circulation triggered landslides, killing at least 18 people in the Philippines and forcing tens of thousands of people in Taiwan (China) and Japan to leave their homes.
The Copernicus Climate Change Agency (EU) warns that record ocean temperatures in June, combined with the return of El Niño, are providing massive amounts of moisture, increasing the destructive power of tropical storms.
