Typhoon Bavi, the most powerful storm to strike mainland China this year, made landfall on the eastern coast late Saturday, triggering the evacuation of millions and severe flooding across multiple provinces. The storm first came ashore in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, before a second landfall in Wenzhou around midnight, bringing violent winds and torrential rain to densely populated urban centres.

In Hebei province, floodwaters rose more than two metres on roads in Kuancheng county, sweeping away cars and leaving around 1,800 villagers stranded, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Local authorities described relocating and resettling residents as their top priority. In the northeastern province of Liaoning, a red alert for flash floods was issued, and more than 170,000 people were evacuated by Monday morning, with schools, businesses, and outdoor activities suspended in the provincial capital Shenyang. Videos verified by Reuters showed vehicles being carried away by currents in Chengde, Hebei, while social media footage depicted residents swimming and paddle-boarding along inundated streets.

Chinese state media reported that over 2.68 million people were evacuated in Zhejiang province alone, where more than 19,000 shelters were opened. Other official tallies placed the total number of evacuees at nearly two million, a discrepancy that may reflect different timeframes or provincial coverage. No fatalities have been confirmed on the Chinese mainland, though the storm earlier triggered landslides in the Philippines that killed at least 17 people, and it brushed Taiwan and Japan’s southern islands, causing injuries and power outages.

Bavi, which weakened to a severe tropical storm as it moved northwest, is the second typhoon to hit China in a week, following Maysak, which left 39 dead in southern provinces. Forecasters expect the storm to bring further heavy rain to Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Anhui, exacerbating flood risks in areas already saturated by earlier downpours. Railway services in Shenyang were suspended, and dozens of flights cancelled. Authorities in Hebei ordered a full halt to work, business, and gatherings during the red alert, while emergency crews remained on duty for rescue and relief operations.