The authorities in China’s southern Guangdong Province have evacuated more than one million people, as Typhoon Ragasa continued its path of destruction, having already struck the Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Chinese state media reported that more than 38,000 firefighters and 400 emergency teams were readied as Guangdong braced for a direct hit from Ragasa, the most powerful storm in the world so far this year.
The typhoon — which made its first landfall in the Philippines on Monday before heading back out to sea — slammed into Hong Kong early Wednesday, flooding coastal areas and lashing the city with pelting rain and powerful winds that toppled trees. It was expected to continue moving west on Wednesday, making a second landfall later in Guangdong.
The typhoon’s destructive path crossed the south of Taiwan on Tuesday, killing 14 people and leaving 118 people missing, as of Wednesday morning.
Raging floodwaters collapsed a bridge, the island’s emergency department said at a news conference Tuesday evening. The dead and missing came from one part of Hualien County, in the east, the agency said, and more than 8,000 people were evacuated across Taiwan.
Videos posted on social media showed people trapped in their homes waiting to be rescued and cars being carried away by murky floodwaters. In one dramatic clip, a woman is seen clinging to a utility pole in a market to avoid being carried away by chest-high water. The authorities later confirmed that she was rescued.
At least 600 flights from Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Airlines and other carriers were canceled at Hong Kong International Airport. The airport said its runways would continue to operate and that some restaurants and shops would stay open for 24 hours for stranded passengers. The airport authority said that it handled 600 flights on Tuesday, and that there were no passengers remaining in restricted areas.
The Hong Kong authorities said that 62 people were injured, and hundreds of trees had fallen as of Wednesday afternoon.
Videos online show seawater rushing into Hong Kong businesses, including into the lobby of the seaside Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel. Seawater crashed through the hotel’s glass doors, knocking a man off his feet and sweeping him to one side of the lobby.
Anna Cholewka woke up on Wednesday to CCTV footage of seawater bursting through her restaurant’s doors, flipping tables and chairs. A storm surge in the eastern neighborhood of Tseung Kwan O breached a sea wall and flooded a promenade where she and her husband, Mark Cholewka, run a French bistro. Now the couple is unsure when it can reopen after seeing much of the restaurant’s furniture float away.
“I cried,” said Ms. Cholewka, who opened Bistro La Baie nearly three years ago. “We put a lot of thought into this place to serve the food that we love to this community. It’s just gone now. It hurts.”
Typhoons in the Western Pacific have grown in intensity as a result of higher temperatures in the sea and atmosphere, stemming from climate change, Shun Chi-ming, the former director of Hong Kong Observatory, said in a phone interview on Wednesday. The warming has caused heavier rains when typhoons make landfall.
Ragasa ultimately skirted Hong Kong by 75 miles, sparing the city from more severe damage. But Mr. Shun said that damage in mainland China is expected to be more significant.
“For western Guangdong, there are places where they will get the full force of the typhoon,” Mr. Shun said.
Hong Kong had been preparing for the worst. The city’s Disneyland resort was closed, horse races were canceled and classes were suspended. Supermarket shelves were emptied as residents stocked up on food, and many taped their windows at home. Maintenance workers set up flood barriers, covered outdoor escalators and secured sculptures to the ground.
The gambling hub of Macau announced that casinos would be temporarily closed from Tuesday evening.
After hitting China, the storm is expected to continue westward, reaching as far as Vietnam and Laos later this week.
Areas that the typhoon passed days ago are still suffering from the aftermath of the storm.
The Philippines’ authorities said Wednesday that 40,000 people were still sheltering in evacuation centers. The council reported four deaths — including a person who was crushed by a landslide — 11 injured and one missing person. About 34 bridges, mostly on Luzon Island, were damaged and impassable.
Jason Gutierrez contributed reporting from Manila.
Tiffany May is a reporter based in Hong Kong, covering the politics, business and culture of the city and the broader region.
David Pierson covers Chinese foreign policy and China’s economic and cultural engagement with the world. He has been a journalist for more than two decades.
Xinyun Wu is a reporter and researcher covering technology and business in China and Taiwan and is based in Taipei, Taiwan.
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