Typhoon Bavi made landfall in China’s eastern Zhejiang province late Saturday, causing mass evacuations and widespread disruption in the southern islands of Japan and Taiwan after it brought heavy rains and strong winds. Officials said the storm is expected to gradually weaken as it moves inland toward the northwest.Chinese authorities evacuated more than 1.7 million people from sensitive areas ahead of the storm’s arrival, while Shanghai evacuated about 34,000 residents from high-risk areas. Coastal cities in Fujian province also stepped up emergency measures, with thousands of people evacuated and more than 17,000 rescue workers placed on standby.The National Meteorological Center issued an orange typhoon warning, the second-highest alert in China’s four-tier warning system. As a precaution, authorities suspended classes, halted ferry operations, canceled hundreds of flights and disrupted many high-speed rail services in the affected areas.Bavi, packing maximum sustained winds of 144 km per hour (89 mph) near its center, tracked north of Taiwan before making landfall in Zhejiang. Meteorological Department officials said the storm will continue to move inland, losing strength.Before reaching China, the typhoon spread across the southern islands of Japan and Taiwan, causing intense rainfall and powerful winds. In the Philippines, where Bavi intensified seasonal monsoon rains before moving north, at least 17 people were killed, most of them in landslides triggered by heavy rains.Bavi is the second typhoon to strike China after Typhoon Maysak struck the south of the country last weekend, putting disaster response agencies on high alert along the eastern coastline.