The most powerful typhoon of the year, Ragasa has struck the northern Philippines with fierce winds and heavy rain, leading to the evacuation of thousands and prompting preparations in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China.
Typhoon Ragasa, called Nando locally, made landfall on Panuitan Island in the northern Cagayan province on Monday, according to the Philippine meteorological agency (PAGASA). It brought sustained winds exceeding 267 kph (165 mph), equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane.
The storm could affect tens of millions of people as it moves across parts of the Asian island nation before advancing towards major cities like Hong Kong and Macau, and China’s Guangdong Province.
According to PAGASA, “Local winds may be slightly stronger/enhanced in coastal and upland/mountainous areas exposed to winds. Winds are less strong in areas sheltered from the prevailing wind direction,” providing insight into the varying impacts of the storm’s approach.
As of Monday morning, the storm was situated just over 1,000 km east-southeast of Hong Kong, advancing westward at approximately 23 kph (14 mph). Even without making direct landfall in the Philippines, Typhoon Ragasa’s outer bands are expected to deliver torrential rain and damaging wind gusts exceeding 315 kph (195 mph). This could lead to flooding and landslides in northern Luzon, where rainfall totals may surpass 400 mm (15 inches) in certain areas.
Massive waves reaching three meters (10 feet) or more pose a threat of inundation to coastal regions of the Philippines’ Batanes and Babuyan Islands, eastern Taiwan, and potentially southern China and Vietnam.
Thousands Evacuated in the Philippines
On Monday morning, the Philippine meteorological agency raised its highest tropical cyclone wind signal, No. 5, for the northern Babuyan Islands. The warning highlighted “potentially very destructive” conditions and “a high risk of life-threatening storm surges” for those regions.
More than 10,000 individuals were evacuated from northern and central Luzon, according to the Philippine Department of the Interior and Local Government. “Homes and property can be rebuilt, but lives lost can never be replaced,” the department emphasized, urging residents to comply with evacuation orders.
A video from Camiguin Island shared by the department depicted intense winds and ocean water surging past homes onto a residential street. Further north, footage captured by a resident in Batanes province showed fierce gusts battering tall trees.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. suspended government operations and classes on Monday across Metro Manila and 29 provinces in the Luzon region, as reported by the Associated Press. Hospitals in northern Cagayan province were placed on alert, and the typhoon caused power outages on Calayan Island and throughout the northern Apayao province.
Flood warnings have been issued for low-lying areas of the Philippines’ Luzon as Ragasa’s winds intensify the torrential monsoon rains, heightening the risk of destructive floods.
While the archipelago regularly faces multiple typhoons each year, the climate crisis driven by human activity has made storms more unpredictable and severe, disproportionately affecting the nation’s poorest communities. In 2024, the Philippines endured four typhoons in less than two weeks, resulting in significant damage from heavy rain, storm surges, and landslides.
Alert Issued for Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Guangdong
In the region, authorities have announced several precautionary measures for civilians ahead of the storm’s anticipated landfall. These include school closures, suspension of key transport links, and evacuation orders.
In China, officials prepared to relocate 400,000 people from low-lying and coastal areas of Shenzhen, a megacity with approximately 17.5 million residents. Further north, railway authorities stated that train services across Guangdong province would be gradually suspended starting Tuesday.
Taiwanese authorities issued land and sea warnings, announcing the suspension of certain ferry services and the closure of nature trails in southern and eastern counties in anticipation of heavy rain and flooding. In eastern Hualien County, around 300 residents were placed on standby for potential evacuation.
Do you know the difference between a typhoon and a hurricane? There actually isn’t one. Both hurricanes and typhoons refer to the same weather phenomenon: tropical cyclones. The name they are given depends on the ocean basin where they occur.
After passing south of Taiwan, Ragasa is projected to move south of Hong Kong early Wednesday, with maximum winds anticipated to exceed 200 kph and gusts reaching up to 250 kph, comparable to a strong Category 3 hurricane, as reported by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
Hong Kong’s financial hub has intensified preparations to manage potential flooding, landslides, and fallen trees. The government has announced the closure of schools for Tuesday and Wednesday as part of these measures.
Cathay Pacific Airways, based in Hong Kong, will halt passenger flights scheduled to depart from and arrive in the city on Tuesday evening, as reported by the Associated Press. Over 500 flights are expected to be canceled. Hong Kong Airlines, another regional carrier, has also suspended dozens of flights for the week.
Additionally, the government announced that a major bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau, and the Chinese city of Zhuhai will be closed starting Tuesday.
The Hong Kong government announced on Monday that all schools would be closed from Tuesday through Wednesday. Local district offices will provide temporary shelters, while emergency services including police, fire, and medical crews remain on full alert.
The government cautioned that sea conditions could mirror those of previous deadly and destructive storms, such as Typhoon Hato in 2017, which brought significant winds and flooding to Macau and Hong Kong, and Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018, which hit Hong Kong and southern China after causing the loss of dozens of lives in the Philippines.
Last month, Hong Kong experienced its highest daily rainfall for August since record-keeping began in 1884.
“Extreme precipitation events have become more frequent. In the past, the hourly rainfall record at the Hong Kong Observatory Headquarters was broken once every few decades. However, this record has been surpassed several times in recent decades,” stated the Hong Kong Observatory on its website.
Climate Crisis Intensifying Typhoons
The western Pacific stands as the most active tropical basin on Earth, with September often being its peak period. Ragasa serves as a reminder of how rapidly storms in this region can intensify and the potential destruction they can cause as they near densely populated coastlines.
For the past eight years, global ocean temperatures have consistently reached record highs. Warmer oceans, intensified by human-induced global warming, supply abundant energy for storms to gain strength.
Super Typhoon Ragasa’s rapid intensification occurred through an eyewall replacement cycle, in which a secondary ring of thunderstorms forms around the storm’s core and gradually takes over the original inner eyewall.
Upon completion of this process, the storm becomes larger, with an expanded wind field and a more formidable eye. Such explosive bursts of strengthening are becoming increasingly common as global temperatures rise.
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