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Typhoon Ragasa batters Hong Kong and southern China after causing deaths in Taiwan and Philippines
Hong Kong and parts of southern China weere on high alert as Super Typhoon Ragasa, the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year, approached on Wednesday with powerful winds and rains, forcing Chinese authorities to shut down schools and businesses in at least 10 cities.
Nearly 1.9 million people were relocated across Guangdong province, the southern Chinese economic powerhouse. The national weather agency forecast the super typhoon would make landfall between the cities of Yangjiang and Zhanjiang in the evening. Schools, factories and transit services were suspended in about a dozen cities.
Elsewhere, the bursting of a barrier lake in Taiwan killed at least 14 people and left 124 people missing, officials announced, after Super Typhoon Ragasa pounded the island with torrential rains and brought widespread damage to parts of east Asia.
The outer rim of Super Typhoon Ragasa has been bearing down on Taiwan since Monday as its path moves down towards the southern Chinese coast.
Ragasa had already toppled trees, torn the roofs off buildings and killed at least two people while ripping through the northern Philippines, where thousands sought shelter in schools and evacuation centres.
At least 10 deaths were reported in the Philippines, including seven fishers who drowned after their boat was battered by huge waves and fierce wind and flipped over on Monday off Santa Ana town in northern Cagayan province. Five other fishers remained missing, provincial officials said.
Nearly 700,000 people were affected by the onslaught in the main northern Philippine region of Luzon, including 25,000 people who fled to government emergency shelters.
In Hong Kong and Macau, a nearby casino hub, canceled schools and flights, with many shops closed. Hundreds of people sought refuge in temporary centers in each city. Streets in Macau turned into streams with various debris floating on the water.
Here are some other key developments:
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All landings and departures at Hong Kong, the world’s busiest cargo airport and the ninth busiest for international passenger traffic, were cancelled for 36 hours starting on Tuesday evening. About 80% of the aircraft belonging to the four main airlines based in Hong Kong has been relocated to or grounded at airports in Japan, China, Cambodia, Europe, Australia and other locations, Flightradar24 tracking data showed.
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Hong Kong’s observatory said Super Typhoon Ragasa, with maximum sustained winds near the centre of about 195kph (120mph), skirted about 100 kilometers (62 miles) to the south of the financial hub. It was forecast to continuing moving west or west-northwest at about 22 kph (about 14 mph).
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The government previously said the rise in water levels could be similar to those recorded during Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018 – estimated to have caused the city direct economic losses worth 4.6bn Hong Kong dollars ($592m).
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Taiwan premier Cho Jung-tai called on Wednesday for an inquiry into what went wrong with evacuation orders in an eastern county where flooding from a breached mountain lake during a strong typhoon killed 14, as fresh warnings spooked residents. Cho said the immediate priority was to find the 129 still missing, but questions remained.
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Taiwanese premier calls for lake flooding inquiry after 14 die with 129 missing
Taiwan premier Cho Jung-tai called on Wednesday for an inquiry into what went wrong with evacuation orders in an eastern county where flooding from a breached mountain lake during a strong typhoon killed 14, as fresh warnings spooked residents, reports Reuters.
Sub-tropical Taiwan, frequently hit by typhoons, normally has a well-oiled disaster mechanism that averts mass casualties by moving people out of potential danger zones quickly. But many residents in Guangfu, an inundated town in the beauty spot of Hualien thronged by tourists, said there was insufficient warning when the lake overflowed during Tuesday’s torrential rains brought by Super Typhoon Ragasa.
Cho said the immediate priority was to find the 129 still missing, but questions remained. He told reporters in Guangfu:
For the 14 who have tragically passed away, we must investigate why evacuation orders were not carried out in the designated areas.
This is not about assigning blame, but about uncovering the truth.
The barrier lake, formed by landslides triggered by earlier heavy rain in the island’s sparsely populated east, burst its banks to send a wall of water into Guangfu.
Resources were insufficient to help relocate those with disabilities, said Lamen Panay, a Hualien councillor, who added that government evacuation requests before the flood had not been mandatory.
Referring to guidance for people to head to higher floors, she said, “What we were facing wasn’t something ‘vertical evacuation’ could resolve.”
Reuters repots that as heavy rain continued on and off in Hualien, police cars sounded sirens a new flood warning in Guangfu on Wednesday, sending people scrambling for safer areas as residents and rescuers shouted, “The flood waters are coming, run fast.”
Taiwan has been lashed since Monday by the outer rim of Super Typhoon Ragasa, which is now hitting China’s southern coast and Hong Kong.
Typhoon Ragasa batters Hong Kong and southern China after causing deaths in Taiwan and Philippines
Hong Kong and parts of southern China weere on high alert as Super Typhoon Ragasa, the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year, approached on Wednesday with powerful winds and rains, forcing Chinese authorities to shut down schools and businesses in at least 10 cities.
Nearly 1.9 million people were relocated across Guangdong province, the southern Chinese economic powerhouse. The national weather agency forecast the super typhoon would make landfall between the cities of Yangjiang and Zhanjiang in the evening. Schools, factories and transit services were suspended in about a dozen cities.
Elsewhere, the bursting of a barrier lake in Taiwan killed at least 14 people and left 124 people missing, officials announced, after Super Typhoon Ragasa pounded the island with torrential rains and brought widespread damage to parts of east Asia.
The outer rim of Super Typhoon Ragasa has been bearing down on Taiwan since Monday as its path moves down towards the southern Chinese coast.
Ragasa had already toppled trees, torn the roofs off buildings and killed at least two people while ripping through the northern Philippines, where thousands sought shelter in schools and evacuation centres.
At least 10 deaths were reported in the Philippines, including seven fishers who drowned after their boat was battered by huge waves and fierce wind and flipped over on Monday off Santa Ana town in northern Cagayan province. Five other fishers remained missing, provincial officials said.
Nearly 700,000 people were affected by the onslaught in the main northern Philippine region of Luzon, including 25,000 people who fled to government emergency shelters.
In Hong Kong and Macau, a nearby casino hub, canceled schools and flights, with many shops closed. Hundreds of people sought refuge in temporary centers in each city. Streets in Macau turned into streams with various debris floating on the water.
Here are some other key developments:
-
All landings and departures at Hong Kong, the world’s busiest cargo airport and the ninth busiest for international passenger traffic, were cancelled for 36 hours starting on Tuesday evening. About 80% of the aircraft belonging to the four main airlines based in Hong Kong has been relocated to or grounded at airports in Japan, China, Cambodia, Europe, Australia and other locations, Flightradar24 tracking data showed.
-
Hong Kong’s observatory said Super Typhoon Ragasa, with maximum sustained winds near the centre of about 195kph (120mph), skirted about 100 kilometers (62 miles) to the south of the financial hub. It was forecast to continuing moving west or west-northwest at about 22 kph (about 14 mph).
-
The government previously said the rise in water levels could be similar to those recorded during Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018 – estimated to have caused the city direct economic losses worth 4.6bn Hong Kong dollars ($592m).
-
Taiwan premier Cho Jung-tai called on Wednesday for an inquiry into what went wrong with evacuation orders in an eastern county where flooding from a breached mountain lake during a strong typhoon killed 14, as fresh warnings spooked residents. Cho said the immediate priority was to find the 129 still missing, but questions remained.
