A powerful typhoon has hit China, the second to hit the country in a week, forcing nearly two million people to evacuate from areas in the storm’s path.
Typhoon Bavi, which stretches 1,000 km (620 miles) at its widest point (about the width of France), first made landfall in the coastal city of Taizhou on Saturday evening before making landfall a second time in Wenzhou around midnight (1700 GMT).
Devastating a chain of remote Japanese islands, it brought torrential rains to Taiwan as it passed its northern tip.
Earlier, landslides caused by the hurricane killed at least 17 people in the Philippines.
Although it has weakened to a Category 1 typhoon, it still poses a threat due to the enormous amount of moisture in its rain bands.
Bavi is forecast to bring “exceptionally heavy rain” to eastern Zhejiang province and northeastern Fujian province, authorities said, adding that evacuations were “taken solely to protect against the (worst-case) scenario.”
More than 1.7 million people were evacuated in Zhejiang and thousands more in neighboring provinces, state media said. Zhejiang has suspended schools, work and outdoor activities, and canceled 400 flights and dozens of trains.
The city of Wenzhou, home to about 10 million people, is close to the hurricane’s path.
Bavi began as a super typhoon, hitting Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands last Monday with winds of 290 km/h (180 mph).
As it moved across the Pacific Ocean, wind speeds weakened to 144 km/h and hit the Sakishima Islands, part of Japan’s Ryukyu Island chain between the country’s main islands and Taiwan. At least five people were injured and thousands were left without power.
Taiwan itself was not directly hit, but thousands of people were forced to flee their homes and heavy rain raised the risk of landslides. Neither country reported any deaths.