Super typhoon 'Ragasa' wreaks havoc in Philippines; heads toward Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan

Ragasa, known locally as Nando, a super typhoon that caused the evacuation of thousands of people from northern Philippine villages on Monday, is now travelling towards Hong Kong, the southern parts of mainland China, and Taiwan. After the arrival of the storm, flood, and landslides led to the death of at least three people and the disappearance of five others.

In response to the situation, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr suspended all classes and government work in the capital, Manila, and 29 provinces of the main northern Luzon region on Monday. Following the typhoon, over 8,200 people were evacuated to safety in Cagayan province, including Calayan, and 1,220 people fled to emergency shelters in Apayao. In addition, domestic flights were suspended, and fishing boats as well as inter-island ferries were prohibited from leaving ports.

Super typhoon 'Ragasa' heads toward Hong Kong, China, Taiwan

After the super typhoon 'Ragasa' began heading to Hong Kong, its officials warned of a “serious threat”, labelling it the most destructive storm in the city’s recent history. “Ragasa will pose a serious threat to Hong Kong, which could reach the levels of Hato in 2017 and Mangkhut in 2018,” Hong Kong’s number-two official Eric Chan said on Monday, Al Jazeera reported.

Hong Kong’s weather service confirmed that Ragasa is coming up with a maximum speed of 220 kilometres per hour (137 miles per hour) at its centre as it churned across the South China Sea early on Tuesday.

Hong Kong International Airport will stay operational, but passengers have been warned of major disruptions in flight schedules from 6 p.m. local time (10:00 GMT) Tuesday until the following day, according to the airport authority. The announcement comes as Cathay Pacific is expected to cancel over 500 flights.

The city’s weather bureau said conditions are likely to worsen rapidly later Tuesday. Meteorologist Westbrook noted that forecasters are preparing to raise the typhoon warning signal to level eight, the third-highest alert. If implemented, the measure would trigger the closure of many businesses and bring much of the city’s transportation to a halt.

“People have been preparing for this typhoon. I was talking to some residents earlier, they’ve been stockpiling food, trying to make sure they have enough supplies for the next two days as this city shuts down,” Westbrook added.

In Taiwan, the weather forecast service predicted “extremely torrential rain” in the eastern region of the country. “Its storm radius is quite large, about 320 [kilometres, or 200 miles]. Although the typhoon’s centre is still some distance away, its wide, strong wind field and outer circulation are already affecting parts of Taiwan,” it said.

Meanwhile, officials in Shenzhen, the southern Chinese tech hub, decided to evacuate around 400,000 people, along with all those people living in low-lying and flood-prone areas. In addition, Shenzhen’s airport announced that it would halt flights starting Tuesday night.

The National Meteorological Centre of China predicted that the typhoon would hit the coastal area between Shenzhen city and Xuwen county in Guangdong province on Wednesday.