At least 17 people have died after Super Typhoon Ragasa, the strongest storm of the year, battered Taiwan and the northern Philippines, with the typhoon now pushing west towards its expected landfall in southern China.
At least 14 people died in Taiwan and 124 remain missing after a barrier lake burst its banks following torrential rains from the storm, officials said.
The lake, formed by landslides in Hualien county after downpours, sent a wall of water crashing into Guangfu township yesterday.
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Streets were emptied in Hong Kong as the storm brought waves taller than lampposts to its promenades, triggering a No 10 signal, the highest level alert.
China has evacuated 1.9 million people so far in Guangdong province, local authorities say. The province is an economic powerhouse and home to more than 125 million people.
The national weather agency forecast the super typhoon would make landfall between the cities of Yangjiang and Zhanjiang this evening.
The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 200kmph and gusts of up to 250kmph on Wednesday morning, according to the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
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Schools, factories and transit services were suspended in about a dozen cities.
In Hong Kong, authorities shut schools and public offices throughout Tuesday and Wednesday after warning that hurricane-force winds and storm surges could rival those seen during Super Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018.
The Hong Kong airport earlier said it will continue operations but warned passengers to expect “significant disruption” to flights from 6pm on Tuesday until at least Thursday morning.
Around 700 flights have been cancelled, while ferries and some key highways are also shutting down, the South China Morning Post reported.
Analysis by The Independent of Flightradar24 data shows 86 regional departures to destinations in Asia have been grounded.
In addition, more than 30 long-haul departures are grounded, including two overnight flights to London Heathrow on Cathay Pacific and one on British Airways.
More than 100 flight departures from Hong Kong have been cancelled in just 10 hours, from 2pm to midnight local time on Tuesday afternoon and evening. An estimated 20,000 passengers are affected.
The Hong Kong Observatory said weather would “deteriorate rapidly” with “gale to storm-force winds” and high swells through Wednesday.
Photos and videos showed empty shelves in supermarkets as residents stockpiled essentials ahead of disruption.
Taiwan premier Cho Jung-tai has called for an inquiry into what went wrong with evacuation orders in an eastern county.
In Guangfu, the Taiwanese town where the lake burst killing 14 people, some 5,200 people or nearly 60 per cent of the population had been told to seek shelter – either on the upper floors of their homes or to the homes of friends and relatives.
Regions across Taiwan have dispatched rescue teams to Hualien, with the military sending 340 troops to help.
Ragasa was expected to maintain its strength throughout Wednesday as a super storm, before weakening slightly as it makes landfall in southern China, forecasters said.
Earlier this week, the storm battered the Phillippines, where at least three people have been killed and thousands displaced in floods and landslides across the northern parts.
In northern Luzon, a 74-year-old man died after being trapped in a vehicle buried by mud and rocks in Benguet province, officials said. Two others were killed in Calayan town in Cagayan province, where the storm first made landfall.
The disaster agency said more than 17,500 people were forced from their homes, while five others remain missing. Schools, government offices and transport services were suspended across 29 provinces, with ferries and domestic flights cancelled.
Scientists warn storms in the region are becoming more intense as global temperatures rise, placing millions of people across Asia’s typhoon belt at increasing risk.
Forecasters said Ragasa was moving northwest at 15kmph over very warm waters, an environment primed to fuel further intensification.
Ragasa isn’t the only storm intensifying in the Pacific Ocean this week. Super Typhoon Neoguri also reached category 4 equivalent strength. Early on Sunday morning, satellite images revealed that both typhoons were very large and undergoing rapid intensification.
