Typhoon Bavi Batters Japan's Southern Islands and Taiwan as Landslides Kill 15 in the Philippines

Typhoon Bavi, the ninth storm of the season, moved across the northwestern Pacific as a powerful storm. In the Philippines, landslides killed 15 people, while Taiwan's government evacuated more than 14,000 people from mostly mountainous areas as the island shut down ahead of the storm. Japan's southern islands were hit directly, with flights and ferries suspended across Ishigaki Island and more than 24,000 households in Okinawa losing power as airlines canceled 345 flights.

Eastern China then ordered mass evacuations as Bavi approached the coast. China's Ministry of Emergency Management said the storm was forecast to make landfall on the evening of July 11 along the coast between Fuqing in Fujian province and Wenling in Zhejiang province. State media reported that Zhejiang had moved nearly 1.72 million residents to safety by Saturday morning, while Al Jazeera reported that more than half a million people were evacuated in Zhejiang and about 100,000 more in neighboring Fujian. Authorities also canceled hundreds of flights and trains as the storm intensified overnight. Indian and international meteorological accounts had earlier described Bavi as among the most powerful storms in years, with peak winds recorded near 290 kilometers per hour.

The storm's track crosses some of the world's densest manufacturing and shipping corridors. Port closures, grounded flights, and power outages in Okinawa, Taiwan, and China's eastern seaboard interrupt the movement of goods through a region central to global supply chains.