Typhoon Bavi Kills at Least 15 in the Philippines, Forces Mass Evacuations Across Asia

Typhoon Bavi, the ninth named storm of the season, moved across the western Pacific with severe effect on several economies at once. In the Philippines, BBC News Hindi reported that the storm killed at least 15 people and that, by a NASA measurement, its maximum wind speed reached about 290 kilometers per hour.

In Japan, The Japan Times reported that flights and ferries across Ishigaki Island were suspended for all of Saturday, airlines canceled 345 flights, and more than 24,000 households in Okinawa lost power, while Taiwan evacuated thousands. In eastern China, the South China Morning Post reported that authorities canceled hundreds of flights and trains and stepped up emergency preparations as the storm intensified overnight and moved toward the coast.

The storm's track crosses some of the world's densest manufacturing and shipping corridors, from Taiwan's export hubs to China's eastern seaboard. Disruptions to ports, power and transport in these zones do not stay local, because they interrupt the flow of components and finished goods that supply chains elsewhere depend on.