Typhoon Bavi Makes Landfall in Eastern China, Triggering Mass Evacuations

Typhoon Bavi made landfall in Zhejiang province, eastern China, late on Saturday night, July 11, 2026. The storm struck with maximum sustained winds of approximately 144 km/h (90 mph), making it the strongest typhoon to hit mainland China in 2026 and the second such storm to strike the country within approximately one week.

Chinese authorities evacuated approximately 1.7 to 2 million people ahead of the typhoon's arrival, with the bulk of evacuations concentrated in Zhejiang province. Classes, work, outdoor activities, transport services, and ferry services were suspended across affected areas as the storm approached.

The eye of the typhoon reached near Hangzhou, the Zhejiang provincial capital, at around 10 am on Sunday morning. After making landfall, Bavi weakened to a severe tropical storm and was forecast to move northeast toward the Yellow Sea, reaching it by Tuesday before transforming into an extratropical cyclone.

Typhoon Bavi originated as a super typhoon that battered Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands with wind speeds of up to 290 km/h (180 mph) before weakening as it crossed the Pacific. The storm was approximately the size of France, spanning roughly 1,000 km at its widest point, and was the longest-lasting tropical cyclone in the Asia-Pacific region in 2026, having formed 13 days before making landfall in China.

Extreme weather in the week prior to Typhoon Bavi's landfall — attributed primarily to Typhoon Maysak — left at least 39 people dead in southern and central China, caused dozens of rivers to overflow, and burst a reservoir. Maysak was the first of two typhoons to strike China within the span of approximately one week.

Reports of the precise landfall location varied across outlets. BBC News identified Taizhou as the first landfall city around midnight and Wenzhou as a second landfall point, while France 24 and Al Jazeera reported landfall specifically at Yuhuan in Zhejiang province. These accounts describe overlapping but differently specified geographic points for the same event.

More than 100,000 people were evacuated in Beijing due to torrential rain associated with the storm. In Wenzhou, a city of nearly 10 million people, authorities evacuated hundreds of thousands of residents, and streets were submerged in floodwaters on Sunday. The typhoon brought heavy rain and caused flooding in Zhejiang, Hebei, Beijing, and rainfall was expected to persist through northeastern provinces including Liaoning and Jilin into July 14–15.

Center-tier outlets France 24 reported that around 34,000 residents were relocated from Shanghai's coastal and high-risk areas ahead of the typhoon, and that more than 130,000 people fled their homes in Fujian province, where over 17,000 emergency rescue workers were placed on standby.

Center-right outlet The Straits Times reported that more than 260,000 people were evacuated in Liaoning province due to severe flooding caused by Typhoon Bavi.

Center outlet France 24 reported that China's weather centre issued an orange typhoon alert — the second-highest on a four-tier scale — and also issued the first red alert for rainstorms of the year on Saturday. The same outlet reported that Chinese authorities allocated 40 million yuan ($5.9 million) in central natural disaster relief funds to Zhejiang and Fujian provinces.

Center outlet France 24 reported that more than 1,300 trees fell or were uprooted in Yueqing city, and that rapid runoff and uprooted roadside trees were observed in Yuhuan as the typhoon struck. The same outlet reported there were no immediate reports of casualties in China from Typhoon Bavi.

Center-right outlet The Straits Times reported that a lighthouse in Shenyang severed a high-voltage power line and drifted through floodwaters, crossing under a bridge, as documented in videos on Chinese social media.

Center-left outlet BBC News reported that supermarket shelves were emptied as residents stocked up on supplies ahead of the typhoon.

Center outlet France 24 reported that Zhejiang provincial officials forecast torrential rain in coastal regions and the possibility of flash floods.

Center-right outlet The Straits Times reported that Typhoon Bavi dissipated quickly overland and that the extreme flooding some forecasting models had predicted before landfall did not materialize, attributing this to the storm tracking farther north and moving inland faster than guidance suggested.