Stock trading halted, schools closed and more: How Taiwan is bracing for Typhoon Bavi before it smashes into China

Typhoon Bavi is forecast to batter northern and eastern Taiwan, as well as Japan's remote southwestern islands, on Friday and Saturday before making landfall in China, which has already been devastated by deadly storms this week.

Authorities in Taiwan have evacuated hundreds of residents and shut schools and offices as the strongest typhoon to threaten the region in decades approaches. The government also suspended trading on the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Friday, with the massive storm expected to unleash heavy rainfall across large parts of the island, according to Bloomberg.

Bavi is currently 713 kilometers (443 miles) south of Japan’s Okinawa island and moving steadily northwest toward China’s east coast, according to the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The system is packing top sustained winds of 157 kilometers per hour, equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane.

On its forecast track, the storm isn’t expected to cross Taiwan’s coast, but the island will be hit by torrential rain that could lead to extensive flooding. Offices have been closed Friday, and Taiwanese carriers including Eva Air Corp., China Airlines Ltd. and Starlux Airlines Co. have canceled flights throughout Saturday, according to officials from Taipei Taoyuan, the island’s biggest airport.

“Taipei is less likely to take direct eyewall hit or have the center pass overhead, but this is still not a ‘miss’". Bavi’s wind field is large enough that northern Taiwan can still see a period of very rough weather even with the center staying offshore, and even a modest track shift could significantly increase wind impacts," James Caron, director of meteorological operations for North America and Asia at Atmospheric G2 stated.

“Remnants and the moisture plume could bring significant inland and northward rains even after the damaging winds fade. That makes flooding possible well north and inland of the eventual landfall point," Caron added.

Evacuation in Zhejiang

After moving past eastern Taiwan, Typhoon Bavi is forecast to make landfall along China's Fujian coast on Saturday night, bringing maximum sustained winds of up to 173 kilometres per hour, according to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA). Combined with the moisture-laden southwest monsoon, the storm is expected to unleash heavy rainfall across large parts of the country, which is still recovering from recent bouts of severe weather.

The CMA mentioned Zhejiang and Fujian provinces could receive up to 600 millimetres (23.6 inches) of rainfall by Sunday, while parts of Beijing and Hebei may record as much as 350 millimetres during the same period.

Over 17,000 people have been evacuated in Zhejiang province, while around 170,000 emergency responders have been deployed on standby, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. In neighbouring Fujian, authorities have suspended several ferry services due to strong winds and rough sea conditions and instructed fishing vessels to return to port.

Elsewhere in southern China, officials said on Thursday that flooding triggered by Tropical Storm Maysak had claimed 39 lives after days of record-breaking rainfall inundated parts of the Guangxi region.

The torrential downpours caused reservoirs to overflow, including the partial collapse of a dam in Hengzhou, sending torrents of muddy water across surrounding areas. Floodwaters trapped residents on the upper floors of buildings for several days, many without electricity, until rescue teams were able to reach them.

Deadly week of extreme weather in China

In central China, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes killed 11 people in Hubei province on Monday night.

In a separate incident, a landslide unrelated to the storms claimed the lives of 21 forestry workers in Gansu province in western China on Tuesday.