Typhoon Ragasa takes aim at China after leaving 17 dead in Taiwan, lashing Hong Kong

HONG KONG – Super Typhoon Ragasa, the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone in 2025, barrelled towards tens of millions of people in southern China on Sept 24

after killing 17 people

in Taiwan, leaving scores missing and lashing Hong Kong with ferocious winds and heavy rains.

The typhoon was tracking towards Maoming, one of China’s biggest oil refining cities, in Guangdong province.

In Taiwan, 17 people were missing in the eastern Hualien county after a barrier lake overflowed and sent a wall of water into a town, while Ragasa brought Hong Kong to a standstill.

More powerful typhoons are likely to hit southern China due to climate change, said Prof Benjamin Horton, dean of the School of Energy and Environment at the City University of Hong Kong, after a summer of record-breaking rainfall.

“The weather experienced in Hong Kong this summer is only a taste of what is to come,” he said.

Officials in Taiwan are used to moving people out of potential danger zones swiftly as the island is frequently hit by typhoons, but many residents in the tourist town of Guangfu said they were given insufficient warning when a lake overflowed during Sept 23’s torrential rains brought by Ragasa.

As rains inundated Taiwan, Hong Kong grappled with huge waves that crashed over areas of the Asian financial hub’s eastern and southern shoreline, breaking into white-water streams as they rushed along pavements and submerged some roads alongside residential properties.

At the Fullerton Hotel in the island’s south, videos on social media showed a torrent of seawater surging through its glass doors before flooding the floor area.

In teeming Tseung Kwan O, built largely on reclaimed land, huge waves submersed swathes of waterfront promenade next to residential towers. At outlying islands including Lantau, home to the city’s international airport, flooding was widespread, swamping beaches and vegetation.

“Areas that were previously sheltered may become exposed... seas will be phenomenal with swells,” the observatory said.

China’s marine authority issued its highest “red” wave warning for the first time in 2025, forecasting storm surges of up to 2.8m in parts of Guangdong province, as Ragasa charges towards the densely populated Pearl River Delta.

Lessons from the past

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 5 super typhoon on Sept 22 with winds exceeding 260 kmh.

It has since weakened to a Category 3 typhoon, which is still capable of bringing down trees and power lines, shattering windows and damaging buildings.

“The authorities have taken lessons from Hato and Mangkhut, which both caused billions of dollars in damage in 2017 and 2018,” said Mr 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,” he added.

Hong Kong

issued the typhoon signal 10

– its highest – late on Sept 23, which urges most businesses and transport services to shut down. 

The authorities also issued the Amber rainstorm signal, expecting heavy rain to continue, with some streets already partially flooded, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The authorities have warned of rising sea levels, saying they could be similar to those seen during Typhoon Hato in 2017 and Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018, both of which caused billions of dollars in damage.

“The water level will reach the maximum around noon, generally to around 4m,” the observatory said.

A woman and her five-year-old son were swept into the ocean on Sept 23 after watching the typhoon from the waterfront, according to the SCMP, which said they are now in intensive care after being rescued.

The financial hub has already opened 49 temporary shelters in various districts and 727 people have sought refuge at the shelters.

Hong Kong’s Stock Exchange will remain open. It changed its policy in 2024 to continue trading whatever the weather.

China braces itself for landfall

After passing around 100km south of Hong Kong over the next few hours, Ragasa was expected to make landfall along the southern Chinese coast in the late afternoon.

Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan and Dongguan, the largest cities in the typhoon’s path, are home to around 50 million people.

The Emergency Management Ministry dispatched tens of thousands of tents, folding beds, emergency lighting equipment and other rescue supplies to Guangdong on Sept 22, Chinese state media reported, while over 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.

“We live on an upper floor and saw there wasn’t too much danger, so I brought the kids out to experience this heavy rain and wind,” a 40-year-old Shenzhen resident surnamed Liang said. “We walked along the open road to make sure to stay safe.”

A crowd chasing the storm under Shenzhen Bay Bridge were moved on by traffic police, a Reuters witness observed.

“The typhoon was really intense, but I’ve not been out long,” said an electric scooter delivery driver who goes by the name of Tim and was using his vehicle to move around and assess the damage.

“It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also dangerous. I wanted to ride around the waterfront, but it’s too dangerous, so I had to come back onto the bridge.”

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 Sept 25.

In the gambling hub of Macau next to Hong Kong, the authorities also issued the No. 10 warning signal early on Sept 24.

Casinos have been forced to shutter their gambling areas since the evening of Sept 23 and are likely to remain closed on Sept 24. Guests are not able to leave their property if they are staying there.

One user on China’s Xiaohongshu app showed videos of doors being sealed at a casino resort to protect against the typhoon. REUTERS