More than 260,000 people have been forced from their homes in northeastern China’s Liaoning province as Typhoon Bavi — the most powerful storm to strike mainland China this year — unleashed intense flooding across the region.
Authorities warned that heavy rain is expected to continue through Tuesday, with some areas facing extreme downpours. The storm is pulling large amounts of tropical moisture northward, creating a sustained flow of humid air into northern China.
In Shenyang, the provincial capital of Liaoning, the flooding reached dramatic levels. Videos circulating on Chinese social media showed a lighthouse that had snapped its high-voltage power line and was drifting through floodwaters along major roads, eventually passing under a bridge.
Officials have ordered all schools and training institutions to suspend classes. Transportation services have been largely shut down across several northeastern cities, including Shenyang and Jilin.
Bavi originated in the Pacific Ocean 13 days ago and spans an area roughly the size of France. Remarkably, the storm’s structure remained mostly intact on Monday, even after making landfall along China’s eastern coast on Saturday night — making it the longest-lasting tropical cyclone in the Asia-Pacific region so far this year.
Chinese meteorologists attribute the storm’s endurance to its unusually well-preserved warm core, which has allowed Bavi to hold onto much of its moisture as it moves northward toward the Korean peninsula. Currently classified as a tropical storm, Bavi is expected to unleash its heaviest rainfall once it slows down and begins releasing the moisture it has been carrying.
