A massive tropical storm has left five people dead in the Philippines and forced hundreds of residents to flee their homes in Taiwan. Typhoon Bavi is being described as the largest storm to threaten the region in three decades.
The storm is currently moving across the Pacific Ocean, with sustained winds of 162 kilometres per hour. Forecasters expect the typhoon to batter northern and eastern Taiwan, alongside parts of Japan, before making landfall in mainland China.
In the Philippines, heavy rainfall linked to the storm triggered a fatal landslide on the southern island of Mindanao. Local police confirmed that five individuals lost their lives, while rescue teams continued to search for six missing people.
Residents in the Taiwanese port city of Keelung have been boarding up windows and stacking sandbags outside shops. Many people have rushed to local markets to stock up on food and basic supplies before the worst of the weather arrives.
Grocery store owner Chang Shih-huo expressed concern over the size of the storm. The shopkeeper said that emergency foods like bread and instant noodles were stocked, and the business would close once the winds intensified.
Weather experts state that the storm has a massive strong-wind radius of 380 kilometres. This footprint makes it the physically largest typhoon to close in on Taiwan since the early 1990s.
Authorities have already closed schools and businesses across northern Taiwan, including the capital city of Taipei. The transport network has suffered severe disruption, with hundreds of international and domestic flights cancelled.
Restaurant owner Penny Pan said that local fishermen had warned businesses to prepare for exceptionally high winds. The eatery operator added that using sandbags was a rare but necessary precaution for a storm of this scale.
The typhoon could dump up to a metre of rain in some areas, raising serious fears of widespread flooding. More than one thousand citizens have been moved to safety, mostly from vulnerable mountainous areas in the east of the island.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has urged the public to remain on high alert. To assist with the emergency response, the military has placed more than 20,000 troops on standby with rescue vehicles and heavy machinery.
The impact is also being felt on Japan's remote southern islands, where schools have closed and businesses have paused operations. Hotel worker Masaru Nakamura reported that staff were tying down outdoor objects with nets to stop them from flying away.
Further north in Okinawa, local businesses are counting the financial cost. Water sports company operator Koki Ohama mentioned that cancellations had completely wiped out a full weekend of bookings.
Climate scientists point out that rising sea temperatures are making these extreme weather events worse. Record ocean warmth combined with the return of the El Nino weather pattern creates more moisture, allowing storms to intensify rapidly.
