Nearly two million people have evacuated in China as Typhoon Bavi approached, while the storm also affected northern Taiwan, Japan’s southwestern islands, and parts of the Philippines. The typhoon, downgraded from super typhoon status, was forecast to make landfall early Sunday in Zhejiang province, eastern China, where over 1.7 million residents have been relocated as a precaution.

In response to the threat, authorities in Zhejiang suspended schools, work, public transport, and outdoor activities. More than 400 flights and numerous train services were canceled across the province. The government in Wenzhou, a city of nearly 10 million people, emphasized a comprehensive mobilization effort aimed at mitigating worst-case scenarios. Residents prepared by reinforcing store shutters and taping windows as forecasts predicted exceptionally heavy rains, particularly in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces.

Further north, over 100,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Beijing due to heavy rains and rising water levels, prompting authorities to increase discharge flows from the Miyun Reservoir to manage flood risk. Additional evacuations occurred in Fujian province and coastal areas of Shanghai, with more than 130,000 and around 34,000 people relocating respectively.

In Taiwan, the typhoon brought strong winds and rainfall, leaving over 170,000 households without power and prompting the evacuation of more than 14,000 people. Most businesses remained closed for a second consecutive day in northern regions, including the port city of Keelung. The island’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) reported maximum sustained winds of 137 kilometers per hour with gusts reaching 173 kph, and warned of dangerous waves up to 10 meters along the northern coast.

Reactions from locals varied; some expressed concern about the storm's severity, while others criticized the government’s warnings, saying they caused unnecessary panic and economic disruption. A business owner in Keelung noted that the storm had not yet brought significant wind or rain despite the extensive precautions.

The typhoon also affected Japan’s southern islands, where over 18,000 households and facilities in Okinawa lost power and dozens of flights were canceled, impacting more than 26,000 passengers. The Miyako region was reported as the hardest hit area. In the Philippines, the storm-related rains contributed to landslides and flooding, resulting in at least 18 deaths, mostly on Mindanao island. Nearly 11,000 people were displaced, and many ports remained closed, with over 300 vessels taking shelter.

Meteorological experts have linked the intensity of Bavi and other recent storms to climate factors, including warmer ocean temperatures—the hottest June on record according to the European Union’s Copernicus Marine Service—and the resurgence of El Niño, a cyclical warming of the Pacific Ocean that tends to amplify tropical storm activity. Despite initial projections that Bavi could be Taiwan’s largest typhoon in over three decades, its strong-wind radius diminished as it moved through the Pacific, slightly reducing the overall threat.