WENZHOU, China: Emergency crews across China's east coast cleared roads strewn with fallen trees on Sunday after Typhoon Bavi — the strongest storm to hit the country this year — swept ashore, triggering flooding and landslides after forcing nearly two million people to evacuate.
Bavi weakened to a tropical storm after moving inland, but forecasters warned the sprawling weather system could continue to bring prolonged and widespread heavy rain across eastern and northern China.
The storm first made landfall in the coastal city of Yuhuan in Zhejiang province at about 11:20 p.m. Saturday before making a second landfall around midnight in nearby Yueqing, packing maximum winds of up to 144 kph (90 mph).
In Yueqing, more than 1,300 trees were felled, with more than 700 uprooted, while floodwaters submerged streets. State television also showed a landslide in the city's mountainous northern areas, where large boulders crashed onto a mountain road and swollen rivers inundated nearby vegetation.
Authorities evacuated nearly two million people ahead of the storm, including about 1.72 million in Zhejiang province, one of China's key manufacturing and technology hubs. More than 130,000 people were also moved to safety in neighboring Fujian province, while about 34,000 residents were evacuated from vulnerable coastal areas of Shanghai.
