China evacuates two million people as powerful typhoon makes landfall

China evacuates two million people as powerful typhoon makes landfall

A powerful typhoon has made landfall in China, the second to hit the country in a week, with nearly two million people evacuated from areas in the path of the storm.

Typhoon Bavi, which spans 1,000km (620 miles) at its widest point – roughly the width of France – first came ashore in the coastal city of Taizhou on Saturday evening before making a second landfall in Wenzhou around midnight (17:00 GMT).

After pummelling a chain of remote Japanese islands, it brought heavy rainfall to Taiwan as it brushed past its northern tip.

Earlier landslides triggered by the storm killed at least 17 people in the Philippines.

Though it has weakened to a severe tropical storm, it still presents a risk because of the huge volume of moisture within its rain bands.

The storm is expected to gradually diminish in its intensity as it moves north-west.

On Sunday morning, the centre of the typhoon reached Hangzhou City in Zhejiang province, Chinese state media reported.