At least 15 people died in landslides on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao as Typhoon Bavi moved through the Pacific, according to local authorities. Six others were reported missing after heavy rain loosened soil in Sarangani and Bukidnon provinces. The storm, known locally as Inday, did not make landfall in the Philippines but its outer bands intensified the southwest monsoon, triggering flash floods and forcing the evacuation of nearly a thousand families.

In Taiwan, more than 2,000 residents were evacuated, most from the mountainous eastern county of Hualien where officials monitored two barrier lakes at risk of overflowing. Schools, offices and financial markets closed across the north and east, including the capital Taipei, and the island’s main international airport cancelled all Saturday flights. President Lai Ching-te urged those in exposed areas to remain on “high alert”, while the defence ministry placed 28,000 troops on standby. Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said the typhoon’s strong-wind radius of 380 kilometres made it the largest to affect the island in more than three decades, though it was expected to pass north of the territory rather than cross the coast directly.

Japan’s remote Sakishima Islands, part of Okinawa prefecture, faced similar disruption. Airlines cancelled more than 260 flights affecting tens of thousands of passengers, and residents on Ishigaki emptied supermarket shelves of instant noodles and taped windows. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of violent winds, torrential rain and landslides. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities ordered the evacuation of over 17,000 people in Zhejiang province and placed 170,000 rescue workers on standby ahead of an expected landfall south of Shanghai late Saturday. The country was already contending with the aftermath of Tropical Storm Maysak, which killed 39 people in Guangxi earlier in the week, and a tornado that left 11 dead in Hubei province.

As of Friday evening, Bavi’s maximum sustained winds had eased to about 155 km/h, with gusts near 190 km/h, after earlier reaching super typhoon strength over Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Forecasters in Taipei and Tokyo said the storm was likely to weaken further before reaching China, but its vast rainbands were still expected to dump up to a metre of rain on Taiwan’s mountains and bring heavy downpours to eastern China. The death toll from the Philippines landslides was confirmed by regional civil defence officials, while Chinese state media reported that the toll from Maysak remained provisional as search operations continued.