A powerful typhoon was tracking toward China's eastern coast on Friday, compounding the nation's ongoing severe weather crisis following a series of devastating storms earlier in the week that left at least 50 people dead.

Typhoon Bavi, carrying maximum sustained winds of 155 kilometers per hour (96 mph), was projected to pass north of Taiwan and deliver heavy rainfall to the island's population of 23 million from Friday night through Saturday.

As a precautionary measure, authorities closed schools in Taipei on Friday, secured fishing boats in northern ports, and canceled numerous flights to Japan, Hong Kong, and other regional destinations through Saturday, though Taiwan's Central News Agency noted that some flights continued to operate.

Forecasters tracking the system indicated that Bavi was moving along a northwesterly trajectory that would carry it over remote Japanese islands before clearing north of Taiwan on Saturday and making landfall in China on Saturday night just south of Shanghai near the provincial border of Fujian and Zhejiang.

In response to the approaching threat, Chinese authorities in Zhejiang province evacuated upwards of 17,000 residents and placed approximately 170,000 rescue personnel on standby, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Across neighboring Fujian, officials suspended select ferry services due to hazardous winds and rough seas while ordering all fishing boats to return to port.

While formidable, Bavi has weakened from earlier in the week when it tore through Saipan and other US Pacific territories as a destructive super typhoon.

The new threat arrives as southern China continues to pick up the pieces from Tropical Storm Maysak.

On Thursday, officials reported that flooding triggered by Maysak's record-breaking rainfall over several days claimed 39 lives in the Guangxi region.

The deluge caused reservoirs to breach capacity and led to the partial collapse of a dam in Hengzhou, unleashing muddy floodwaters over surrounding communities.

Cut off from electricity and trapped for days on the upper levels of buildings, numerous residents awaited rescue teams before finally being reached.

Further compounding the week's weather emergencies, separate severe thunderstorms and tornadoes caused 11 fatalities earlier in the week in central China's Hubei province.

In an independent calamity away from the storm systems, a Tuesday landslide in western China's Gansu province resulted in the deaths of 21 forestry workers.

Source: AP