Typhoon makes landfall in China, downgraded to severe tropical storm Andrew Zinin Chief Editor Typhoon Bavi was downgraded to a severe tropical storm Sunday after making landfall in eastern China, where authorities had evacuated nearly 2 million people in its path. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. Before reaching China, the storm lashed northern Taiwan and Japan's remote southwestern islands, toppling trees and leaving tens of thousands without power.

Extreme weather already wreaked havoc on southern and central China in the past week, with storms leaving at least 39 dead and causing dozens of rivers to overflow and a reservoir to burst. Bavi first made landfall at around 11:20 p.m. Saturday (1520 GMT) in Zhejiang province, packing winds of 144 kilometers (90 miles) an hour, the state Xinhua news agency said, quoting the provincial meteorological observatory.

"The core impact zone experienced fierce winds and heavy rain, with rapid runoff forming on the ground and roadside trees being uprooted," national TV station CCTV reported as Bavi struck the city of Yuhuan. At around 5 a.m. Sunday, its intensity weakened to severe tropical storm levels, the China Weather Administration reported.

The eye of the storm was near the major commercial hub of Yiwu and is now expected to head northwest, it added, warning of force 11 winds of around 108 kilometers per hour (67 mph). Zhejiang provincial officials forecast torrential rain in coastal regions and the possibility of flash floods, transport disruptions, rivers overflowing their banks and farmland being inundated, Xinhua said. Around 1.72 million people had been evacuated to safe places by authorities as of Saturday morning, Xinhua said.

Activities suspended Ahead of the storm's arrival, classes, work, transport and outdoor activities were suspended, and more than 400 flights and dozens of train services were canceled in the province. "The proactive, all-out mobilization, which is sparing no effort or cost, is undertaken entirely to guard against the (worst-case) scenario," the government in Wenzhou, a metropolis of nearly 10 million people in Zhejiang, said in a statement. Residents used planks to reinforce metal shutters protecting shops and taped windows, with Bavi forecast to bring "exceptionally heavy rains" to eastern Zhejiang and northeastern Fujian province, CCTV footage showed.

Torrential rain further north prompted the evacuation of more than 100,000 people from their homes in Beijing, the government said, as water discharge flows from the capital's Miyun Reservoir were ramped up to capture potential floodwaters. More than 130,000 people have fled their homes in Fujian, and around 34,000 people have fled Shanghai's coastal and high-risk areas, state media reported. Bavi had been downgraded to a typhoon as it moved across the Pacific Ocean after slamming into Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands on Monday as a super typhoon.

Death toll rises In the Philippines, the death toll from landslides and other incidents triggered by heavy rains driven by Bavi rose to 18, most on the southern island of Mindanao. Nearly 11,000 people across the archipelago fled their homes, and dozens of ports remain closed, with 313 vessels taking shelter.