Typhoon Bavi made landfall in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang late Saturday night, prompting widespread evacuations and high-alert warnings.

Bavi, which was expected to weaken, according to China’s national weather center, previously brought strong winds and rain to Japan’s southern islands and Taiwan. It was the second typhoon to hit China in just over a week, after Maysak made landfall in southern China on July 3.

Chinese authorities had evacuated more than 1.7 million people as of Saturday and issued high alerts while eastern China braced for Bavi, which had maximum sustained winds of 89 mph near its center, the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane.

After passing north of Taiwan on Saturday and making landfall in the coastal city of Yuhuan in Zhejiang, Bavi is expected to move northwestward inland, the National Meteorological Center said.

Earlier, at least 17 people were killed in the southern Philippines, mostly due to landslides that were set off by seasonal monsoon rains that Bavi intensified before the typhoon blew away toward Taiwan, Philippine officials said Saturday.

Source: MSN.com