Parts of Asia, including the Philippines, Taiwan, southern China and Hong Kong, are recovering from an unwelcome visit from Typhoon Ragasa, which caused widespread flooding and more than a two dozen deaths as it plowed through the region.
The first “super typhoon” of the season—the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 170 mph—made landfall in Asia in the northernmost islands of the Philippines before crossing the South China Sea this week, passing south of Taiwan and coming within 75 miles of Hong Kong. The center of the storm hit the southern China mainland in Guangdong Province, coming ashore on Hailing Island and near the city of Yangjiang, at Category 3 strength.
Ragasa, the strongest storm in the world so far in 2025, caused landslides and flooding all along its path, with flood waters inundating streets and buildings in Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong and elsewhere. Hong Kong’s Fullerton hotel was among the properties flooded in the city. In Taiwan, some deaths occurred as the result of a lake overflowing its banks, sending millions of gallons of water through the Hualien County and washing away vehicles and people alike.
In China’s Guangdong Province, more than two million people were evacuated ahead of the storm, and Hong Kong closed its international airport, although it resumed flight operations on Thursday morning local time. The airport stayed closed for 36 hours, and 700 flights were cancelled.
An estimated 50,000 trees in Guangdong, a major industrial hub in China, were toppled in the storm, and tens of thousands of households lost power.
Damage from the storm was unexpectedly severe in Taiwan despite the island not suffering a direct hit. Meteorologists from the region attributed Ragasa’s power to warming ocean waters and other effects of climate change. China’s meteorological agency dubbed Ragasa the “king of storms.”
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