Typhoon Ragasa batters Taiwan and southern China
Dubbed as the strongest storm on the planet this year, Typhoon Ragasa is hitting parts of Asia with deadly force. The scenes are staggering: hurricane-force winds and torrential rain have triggered flash flooding across Taiwan.
More than a dozen are dead, more than 100 are still missing and entire towns are underwater. Now, more than two million people have been evacuated from southern China as the storm heads toward densely populated coastal cities.
The storm brought Hong Kong, a global financial center, to a standstill on Wednesday as 100-mile-per-hour winds tore through high-rises and huge waves crashed into seaside hotels.
Damage so far
It arrived in Hong Kong after moving through remote islands in the Philippines and mountainous regions of Taiwan. The storm left a trail of damage in its wake, with storm conditions triggering landslides and huge waves.
In Taiwan, CNN is reporting that at least 14 people have died, and rescuers are trying to locate 129 others listed as missing. People went missing after a natural dam holding back a recently formed lake collapsed. It unleashed 68 million tons of water, flooding the nearby Guangfu township.
Typhoon season
Ragasa is the ninth typhoon to strike the region this year, far above the average of six. Forecasters say its impacts could be felt for days as the system churns inland.
The typhoon has weakened slightly, but when it first made landfall in the northern Philippines, it was the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane.
CNN reports that another storm, called Opong, is intensifying in the Philippines in the aftermath of Ragasa. The news comes as typhoon season still has many months left.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
