Typhoon Bavi Hits Taiwan with 144 kph Winds, 36 Injured, 913 Flights Canceled, China Evacuates 600,000

Since Typhoon Bavi entered the region earlier this week, it has cut a path through Japan's southern islands and across Taiwan, and as of July 11, 2026, it is bearing down on the Chinese mainland.

Taiwan: 36 Injured, 150,000 Households Lose Power

Bavi made its closest pass to Taiwan on Saturday, according to South China Morning Post. The storm injured 36 people and forced more than 14,000 residents to evacuate. Over 150,000 households lost power across the island.

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport canceled 913 flights over two days, with 760 of those cancellations falling on Saturday alone, per SCMP. Affected routes spanned the region and beyond: Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Bangkok, Osaka, San Francisco, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Milan, Paris, and Amsterdam all saw service disruptions.

Ferry services took a parallel hit. Maritime authorities suspended 116 sailings across 13 routes and warned travelers against attempting to reach Taiwan's outlying islands, citing the risk of being stranded.

Taiwan's Central Weather Administration said the strongest winds and heaviest rainfall were expected to persist through Saturday evening, with sea and land warnings potentially lifted as early as Sunday morning as the storm moved west toward the Chinese mainland. Mountainous areas of northern and central Taiwan faced warnings of torrential rain, with low-lying zones at risk from landslides, rockfalls, and flash floods.

Japan: Ishigaki Hit Hard

Before reaching Taiwan, Bavi pummeled Japan's southern Sakishima Island chain, including Ishigaki in Okinawa Prefecture, according to Japan Times. Maximum sustained winds near the storm's center reached 144 kilometers per hour, with gusts warned to hit up to 198 kph. Debris was seen flying through empty streets on Ishigaki, with boats rocking violently in local harbors.

China: 600,000 Evacuated Ahead of Landfall

With the storm tracking toward the Chinese mainland, authorities evacuated more than 600,000 people, according to Japan Times. Reuters, as reported by ABS-CBN, documented heavy rain and strong gusts already affecting areas ahead of the storm's arrival. Farmers in Wenzhou, in Zhejiang Province, were photographed securing rice seedlings as conditions deteriorated Saturday.

A fair concern with storm reporting that crosses multiple jurisdictions, particularly when one is mainland China, is whether official evacuation and casualty numbers reflect reality. Chinese authorities have historically managed the flow of disaster information, and independent verification of figures like the 600,000 evacuated is difficult in real time. The Taiwan figures—36 injuries, 14,000 evacuations, 150,000 households without power—come from Taiwan's own Central Weather Administration and airport authorities, which operate transparently and whose numbers are independently trackable through flight data and utility reports. The mainland China figures are attributed to Chinese authorities and have not been independently verified in these sources.

The unresolved question as of Saturday morning, July 11, is the storm's exact mainland landfall point and intensity. The Zhejiang coast, where Wenzhou is located, appears to be in the primary path based on current tracking. Whether Bavi's sustained winds hold at 144 kph or weaken before landfall will determine the scale of infrastructure and agricultural damage across one of China's more densely populated coastal provinces. Taiwan's flight resumptions were expected to begin after 4 a.m. Sunday, according to SCMP, but that timeline depends on how quickly the storm clears Taiwanese airspace.