The number of injured in Taiwan as a result of the passage of the powerful Typhoon Bavi has exceeded 110 people, the island's official emergency services reported. According to data from the Taiwan Fire Department, cited by world agencies, the total number of victims has reached 113 people. Most of the injuries are minor and were caused by falls from motorcycles and bicycles due to strong gusts of wind, as well as by blows from fallen trees and debris.
The element, defined by meteorologists as one of the largest in scope in the region in recent decades, brought with it torrential rains and winds with speeds of over 100 km/h. The capital Taipei and the central parts of the island were hardest hit. Authorities declared emergency holidays for schools and the administration, and the transport network was paralyzed. According to the Central Meteorological Administration of Taiwan, rainfall amounts in mountainous areas reached nearly one meter.
More than 14,000 residents of high-risk mountainous regions were preventively evacuated due to a real danger of landslides and river overflows. The national electricity company reported that more than 177,000 households were left without electricity, with crews managing to restore power to most of them. More than 1,100 international and domestic flights were canceled, and ferry connections to smaller islands were completely suspended.
Although Taiwan avoided a direct landfall from the eye of the storm, the peripheral strips of Bavi caused significant damage. The typhoon has already passed the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa and made landfall in eastern China's Zhejiang province late Saturday, where Chinese authorities have evacuated nearly 2 million people as a precaution. Before heading north, the storm has intensified monsoon rains in the Philippines, where local authorities say at least 17 people have died in floods and landslides.