Climate News

Typhoon Bavi slams into eastern China after up to two million people are evacuated

Typhoon Bavi made landfall in China's eastern province of Zhejiang late on Saturday 11 July, after Chinese authorities moved huge numbers of people out of its path. Al Jazeera, citing AP and Reuters, reported that Bavi first reached the coastal city of Yuhuan just before midnight and then made a second landfall in Yueqing, in Wenzhou. It called Bavi the strongest storm to hit China this year, and said the storm was roughly the size of France.

Bavi had already swept through the western Pacific. On 6 July its eye passed over Rota in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory, with winds of more than 150mph, according to the US National Weather Service. Local authorities there reported "major damages". In China, state broadcaster CCTV said more than 1,300 trees were felled in Yueqing. In Shanghai, 684 flights and more than 1,600 trains were cancelled, and Hangzhou's airport cancelled 327 flights. Bavi came about a week after Typhoon Maysak hit southern China.

"We could hear roof tiles and tree branches falling." — Yueqing resident Li Liangxing, via Al Jazeera

How each outlet framed it

• Al Jazeera — the scale of the storm and the transport chaos, with residents' voices from Wenzhou.
• PBS NewsHour — the AP wire version, leading on "more than 1 million" people evacuated.
• The Star — the Malaysian paper's regional desk focused on the landfall in east China's Zhejiang.
• Khaosod English — the Thai outlet led with the biggest figure: more than 2 million evacuated.

Where the numbers differ: the evacuation count grew as the storm approached. AP said more than 1 million, Al Jazeera reported 1.7 million on Saturday and "nearly two million" a day later, and Khaosod English said more than 2 million.

What we don't know yet: the full extent of the damage on Rota, where poor communications made it hard to assess, and how much rain the weakened storm will bring to eastern and northern China in the coming days.