Taipei, July 11: Chinese authorities evacuated more than 1 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 near its centre, 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 Centre, make landfall before midnight or in the early hours of Sunday and then move inland.
Authorities in the Zhejiang have evacuated more than 1.7 million people as of Saturday morning, the Xinhua said. Shanghai relocated around 34,000 residents from high-risk areas by Saturday noon. In Ningde in Fujian province, more than 3,700 people were relocated from high-risk onshore areas as of Friday evening. Authorities in Fujian province have placed over 17,000 emergency rescue workers on standby. (AP)
