Typhoon Bavi is set to make landfall near the Chinese city of Wenzhou in the early hours of Sunday, threatening to compound the crisis caused by ongoing floods in several parts of the country.
The typhoon has already battered Japan's southern Sakishima island chain and brushed past northern Taiwan, where hundreds of flights had to be cancelled and thousands evacuated. Before that, it lashed US islands of Rota and Guam, causing “catastrophic” damage.
Bavi is forecast to hit Wenzhou, a coastal city of some 10 million people in Zhejiang province, bringing violent winds and heavy rain to an area of China already reeling from weeks of deadly flooding.
State media reported that nearly half a million had been evacuated in Zhejiang and about 100,000 in neighbouring Fujian province.
Even as the storm slows and weakens over cooler seas, it remains a potent risk due to the sheer volume of moisture it carries within its rain bands, which stretch about the size of France from end to end.
"I'm a little worried, but I think it'll be OK. We've been through typhoons before. We will get through it," Wenzhou resident Huang Xinghuan, 50, who was buying groceries at a traditional wet market before it closed ahead of the storm, told Reuters.
He said his family had stocked two to three days' worth of water. "I think supplies are well guaranteed now. There's no need to panic or stockpile a lot of food or other supplies," he added.
In Taiwan, the government evacuated more than 14,000 people from mainly mountainous areas as the island effectively shut down. More than 900 international and 280 domestic flights had to be cancelled as the island’s main international airport at Taoyuan outside Taipei was closed.
Almost all cities and counties declared a typhoon holiday for Saturday, closing offices and schools, though some restaurants and convenience stores in Taipei remained open.
The main north-south high-speed rail line continued to operate with reduced service.
Bavi did not make landfall in Taiwan, sparing it the worst, although forecasts had warned of close to one metre of rain in some areas.
In Taipei's Beitou neighbourhood in the foothills of the mountains surrounding the city, gusts of around 100km per hour knocked down trees and swelled rivers. In downtown Taipei, some residents remained unbothered.
Japan and Taiwan have not reported any deaths from the typhoon so far. However, 17 people died in the Philippines due to heavy rains brought by an enhanced southwest monsoon worsened by Bavi's impact.
In Wenzhou, residents prepared as best as they could. Chen Qiuqin, in her 60s, walked through steady rain on her way to her elderly parents' home to help them prepare.
"I was worried about the flowerpots on my mother's balcony, so I'm going to help move them inside. My parents are both elderly and they're home alone, so I wasn't at ease," she told Reuters.
China has been battered by successive weather disasters in recent weeks. Tropical Storm Maysak killed 39 people in southern Guangxi, breaching a reservoir dam in Nanning that alone claimed 26 lives, and forcing 130,000 evacuations.
A landslide in the western province of Gansu killed 21 people, while thunderstorms killed 11 in Hubei. Meteorologists have warned that this year's flood season, which officially began on 1 July, faces "complex" disaster prevention challenges due to the combined effects of global warming and El Niño.
