Typhoon Ragasa, the most powerful storm in the world so far this year, slammed into Hong Kong early Wednesday, flooding coastal areas and lashing the city with pelting rain and powerful winds that toppled trees.
The typhoon — which made its first landfall in the Philippines on Monday before heading back out to sea — was expected to continue moving west on Wednesday, making a second landfall later in China’s southern Guandong Province. The authorities there have evacuated more than a million people, state media reported.
The typhoon’s destructive path crossed the south of Taiwanon Tuesday, killing 14 people and leaving 124 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 almost 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. Authorities later confirmed that she was rescued.
Ragasa has prompted the cancellation of hundreds of flights, mass evacuations and the closure of Hong Kong’s Disneyland and Macau’s casinos.
Experts say that typhoons are increasing in the region, and officials are bracing for Ragasa to be one of the worst in years.
The Hong Kong Observatory issued its highest storm signal, level 10, at 2:40 a.m. on Wednesday. The forecaster said that rain could fall at a rate of more than an inch per hour and that the sea level in eastern Hong Kong had reached more than 12 feet above normal by Wednesday morning. It urged residents not to go outside.
On Tuesday, crowds had gathered by coastlines in Hong Kong to watch the crashing waves. Among the spectators, a child and his mother had gotten swept into the sea and were rushed to intensive care after being rescued, according to the police.
Hong Kong Observatory’s forecasters had earlier warned that Ragasa could cause damage comparable to that of Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018, when ferocious winds shattered hundreds of glass windows in the city’s skyscrapers. Eric Chan, Hong Kong’s No. 2 official, described Ragasa as a “serious threat” to the city.
Nineteen people were injured and dozens of trees had fallen as of Wednesday morning, the Hong Kong authorities reported.
The city’s Disneyland resort was closed, horse races were canceled, classes were suspended and office workers went home early. 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.
At least 600 flights from Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Airlines and other carriers have been canceled at Hong Kong International Airport. The airport said that 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. In Taiwan, 270 flights were canceled.
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.
In the Philippines, the state weather bureau said Monday that the storm had caused heavy rains and landslides in areas in the north, many of which were still struggling with flooding from previous storms.
Amy Chang Chien contributed reporting from Taipei and David Pierson from Hong Kong.
Tiffany May is a reporter based in Hong Kong, covering the politics, business and culture of the city and the broader region.
Xinyun Wu is a reporter and researcher covering technology and business in China and Taiwan and is based in Taipei, Taiwan.
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.
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