Typhoon Ragasa aims at China after lashing Taiwan, HK
Jessie Pang and David Kirton |
Typhoon Ragasa, the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone of 2025, has crossed southern China’s coast after killing 17 people in Taiwan and lashing Hong Kong with ferocious winds and heavy rain.
In Taiwan’s eastern Hualien county, 17 people remain missing after a barrier lake overflowed and sent a wall of water into a town, the fire department said on Wednesday.
Ragasa’s outer rim has drenched the island since Monday.
Many residents in the tourist town of Guangfu complained there was insufficient warning from authorities, usually used to moving people out of potential danger zones swiftly as the island is frequently hit by typhoons.
As rains inundated Taiwan, Hong Kong grappled with huge waves that crashed over areas of the Asian financial hub’s eastern and southern shoreline.
The water rushed along pavements and submerged some roads and residential properties.
At the Fullerton hotel on the island’s south, videos on social media showed seawater surging through glass doors.
China’s marine authority issued its highest red wave warning for the first time this year, forecasting storm surges of up to 2.8 metres in parts of Guangdong province, as Ragasa charges towards the densely populated Pearl River Delta.
Ragasa formed over the Western Pacific last week.
Fuelled by warm seas and favourable atmospheric conditions, the tropical cyclone rapidly intensified to become a category five super typhoon on Monday with winds exceeding 260km/h.
It has since weakened to a category three typhoon, still capable of bringing down trees and power lines, shattering windows and damaging buildings.
“Authorities have taken lessons from Hato and Mangkhut, which both caused billions of dollars in damage in 2017 and 2018,” said Chim Lee, a senior energy and climate change specialist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
“The Pearl River Delta is one of the best-prepared regions for typhoons, so we’re not expecting major disruptions. One change this year is that the Hong Kong stock market has stayed open during typhoons – a sign of how resilient the infrastructure has become.”
After passing about 100km south of Hong Kong, Ragasa made landfall along the south Chinese coast.
Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan and Dongguan, the largest cities in the storm’s path, are home to about 50 million people.
The emergency management ministry dispatched tens of thousands of tents, folding beds, emergency lighting and other rescue supplies to Guangdong on Tuesday, Chinese state media reported, while more than 770,000 people have been evacuated.
Some shops and restaurants in the province parked large rented trucks in front of their storefronts in a bid to shield them from the storm, local media reported.
China’s marine authority warned of a high risk of flooding in Shenzhen, especially in low-lying areas, with a storm surge alert expected to remain in effect until Thursday.
A woman and her five-year-old son were swept into the ocean on Tuesday after watching the typhoon from the Hong Kong waterfront, according to the South China Morning Post, which said they were now in intensive care.
Hong Kong lowered its typhoon signal to 8 from 10 on Wednesday, keeping the city locked down.
The hospital authority said at least 50 people had been injured by the typhoon, while the government had opened 50 temporary shelters, within which 791 sought refuge.
In the gambling hub of Macau next to Hong Kong, casinos were forced to shutter their gambling areas.
Guests were not able to leave their property.
Reuters
