HONG KONG (Reuters) – The most powerful storm to strike mainland China this year forced more than 260,000 people to evacuate their homes in northeastern Liaoning province, ‌as Typhoon Bavi brought intense flooding.
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Heavy rain is expected to persist through Tuesday, with extreme downpours in some areas, authorities said as Bavi ​draws vast amounts of tropical moisture northward, creating ​a sustained flow of humid air into northern â China.
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In Shenyang, Liaoning’s provincial capital, a lighthouse severed its high-voltage power line and began drifting through floodwaters along main roads and crossing under a bridge, according to videos posted on Chinese social media.
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All schools and training institutions have been ordered to suspend classes, while transport services have been largely disrupted in northeastern cities including in Shenyang and Jilin.
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Bavi, covering an area the size ‌of â France, formed in the Pacific Ocean 13 days ago. Its structure remained largely intact on Monday even after making landfall in eastern China on Saturday night, making it ​the longest-lasting tropical ​cyclone in â the Asia-Pacific region this year.
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Its longevity is largely due to its unusually well-preserved warm core, Chinese meteorologists say, allowing Bavi to retain much â of its moisture as it churns north towards the Korean peninsula. Intense rainfall is expected when Bavi, currently classified as â a tropical storm, slows further and starts ​to release all the moisture that it has been holding.