WENZHOU: China evacuated almost two million people on Saturday as Typhoon Bavi churned towards the major eastern city of Wenzhou after pummelling Japan’s southern Sakishima island chain with heavy rain and violent winds.
Classes, work, transport and outdoor activities have been suspended, and more than 400 flights and dozens of train services cancelled in Zhejiang province. “The proactive, all-out mobilisation, which is sparing no effort or cost, is undertaken entirely to guard against the (worst-case) scenario,” the government in Wenzhou said in a statement.
Even as Bavi continues to slow and weaken on its northwesterly path over cooler seas, the typhoon is still a potent risk due to the sheer volume of moisture it holds within its rain bands, about the size of France from end to end.
Bavi had maximum sustained winds of 144 kilometres per hour (kph), equivalent to Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, and was about 200km southeast of Wenling in the eastern province of Zhejiang around midday, according to China’s meteorological office. Bavi is forecast to make landfall around Wenzhou, home to 10 million people, early on Sunday.
Over 400 flights, dozens of train services cancelled in Zhejiang
