Over 900,000 people flee homes in China ahead of typhoon

More than 900,000 people have fled their homes in China, officials said, as an approaching typhoon lashed northern Taiwan and Japan's remote southwestern islands, toppling trees and leaving tens of thousands without power.

Typhoon Bavi is expected to make landfall in China early tomorrow, with a total of more than 900,000 people evacuated from their homes in the capital Beijing and the eastern metropolis of Wenzhou, city governments said.

State media said more than half a million people had been evacuated in Zhejiang province, where Wenzhou is located, and more than 100,000 in neighbouring Fujian province.

"Exceptionally heavy rains" are forecast for eastern Zhejiang province and northeastern Fujian province, according to state television broadcaster CCTV.

In Zhejiang's Xiaguan Town, the entire population of more than 10,000 people have been evacuated from their homes due to their exposure to "strong winds", CCTV said.

Extreme weather has already wreaked havoc on southern and central China this week, with storms leaving at least 39 dead and causing dozens of rivers to overflow and a reservoir dam to burst.

While Japan and Taiwan have not so far reported any deaths from the typhoon, 17 people died in the Philippines due to heavy rains brought by an enhanced southwest monsoon, worsened by Bavi's impact.

After hitting Guam and the Northern Marianas on Monday as a super typhoon, Bavi was downgraded to a typhoon as it moved across the Pacific Ocean.

Bavi's maximum sustained wind speeds slowed to 144km/h, with gusts of around 180km/h, Taiwan's Central Weather Administration (CWA) said this morning, as the storm "weakened in intensity".

The CWA warned of "extremely torrential rain" across northern Taiwan and "dangerous waves" of up to 10 metres high along the coast as Bavi neared the island's north.

In Taiwan, the government evacuated more than 14,000 people from mainly mountainous areas as the island shut down for the approach of Bavi to the north.

While Bavi did not make landfall on Taiwan, ⁠the government took precautions to prevent loss of life, given forecasts for almost 1 metre of rain in some areas.

Most of those evacuated were ‌in areas in the north and east, with 920 international flights cancelled, effectively closing Taiwan's main international airport at Taoyuan, outside ⁠the capital Taipei, as ‌well as all 282 domestic flights.

Almost all cities and counties across Taiwan declared a typhoon holiday for today, closing any offices and schools that may have been open on the weekend, though in Taipei some restaurants and supermarkets remained open.

More than 18,000 households and facilities across Okinawa lost power as the typhoon pounded Japan's remote southwestern islands, with the Miyako region hardest hit.

Japanese airlines cancelled dozens of flights, affecting more than 26,000 passengers.