KEELUNG: Fifteen people were killed in landslides in the Philippines and thousands in Taiwan were evacuated from their homes as the biggest typhoon in decades neared the region on Friday.
Typhoon Bavi is expected to pound Taiwan’s north and east, as well as Japan’s remote southwestern islands, on Saturday before smashing into China, which has been hit by deadly storms this week.
Two landslides triggered by heavy rains driven by Bavi killed at least 15 people and left six others missing on the Philippines southern island of Mindanao.
Locals in Taiwan’s port city of Keelung, which is expected to be one of the hardest hit areas on the island, stocked up on food, taped windows and stacked sandbags along shopfronts, heeding warnings from authorities to take precautions.
“They’re saying it’s going to be huge; of course that’s scary, right?” Keelung grocery store owner Chang Shih-huo, 76, said.
