Authorities in southern China said on Thursday that 39 people had died in floods after a typhoon brought heavy rain, as the country's east coast and Taiwan braced for a typhoon expected in the coming days.
Most of the dead were in Hengzhou, where a partial collapse of a reservoir sent torrents of water into the city and claimed the lives of 26 people, said Ding Wei, deputy mayor of Nanning city, which runs the area. Nine people are still missing in the wider Guangxi area.
Tropical Storm Maysak has brought record rainfall to Guangxi since Saturday, breaching reservoirs and trapping people in homes and other buildings for days. The previously announced death toll on Tuesday was six.
The second storm, Typhoon Baviwas at sea on a northwesterly track that would take it past some remote Japanese islands and then north of Taiwan before arriving in China's Fujian or Zhejiang provinces on Saturday. Fishing boats can be seen crowding the harbors of northern Taiwan on Thursday as heavy rain is expected to hit the island of 23 million people.
Ao Shuaichang/Xinhua via AP
Bavi, which brought strong winds to Saipan and other parts of the United States earlier this week, was downgraded Thursday from typhoon strength but still had sustained winds of 114 kilometers per hour, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration. Classes were suspended in many cities and towns in the Philippines and ships were prohibited from leaving northern ports as the typhoon passed east of the northern island of Luzon.
In southern China, military rescue teams have finished evacuating more than 10,000 students and teachers who were trapped in a cluster of schools in the city of Guigang, 40 miles northeast of Hangzhou. Video on state broadcaster CCTV shows students, wearing bright orange vests, boarding boats that took them from the scene of school buildings out of a pool of muddy water.
Animals were also trapped or washed away by the floods.
A zoo in Guigang said more than 100 animals were missing, including two zebras, four porcupines and dozens of tropical birds. In Hengzhou, encounters with snakes that reportedly escaped from a farm prompted authorities to stock up on antivenin and advise residents on what to do if bitten.
An animal shelter worker in Binyang County, about 50 miles northwest of Hangzhou, struggled in recent days to rescue about 200 cats and dozens of dogs, bringing two dogs at a time into deep water. Cats climb onto the roof as the water level rises.
Zhou Hua/Xinhua via AP 
Drones and about 5,700 boats were used in a massive relief and rescue operation to deliver drinking water and other supplies and evacuate stranded citizens. About 130,000 people have been evacuated.
Ding said the floods are receding but more rain is expected in some areas in the next two days. Workers have been sent to remove mud and debris and disinfect several cities in Hangzhou.
Road repairs are ongoing and electricity has been restored to more than 60,000 homes, said Ding in a press conference.
Heavier-than-expected rain lashed southern Guangxi for days, with 4 to 16 inches of rain accumulating in some areas and more than 35 inches in hard-hit areas, the national meteorological agency said.
Severe weather has hit central China again this week, leaving 11 people dead and many more homeless in Hubei province after thunderstorms and storms hit Monday night.
Elsewhere in Asia, landslides triggered by heavy rains killed at least 13 Rohingya refugees in camps in Bangladesh this week. Authorities were moving the refugees to safer places on Thursday.
