AT least 14 people are dead and more than 100 missing after the “King of Storms” slammed into Taiwan.
More than two million people in China and Hong Kong have been evacuated as south Asia braces for more destruction from Super Typhoon Ragasa.
4 Damaged cars lie strewn in the street following flooding in Hualien, TaiwanCredit: Reuters
4 Enormous waves smash into a beach near a giant sculpture in Shenzhen in southern China’s Guangdong provinceCredit: AP
4 Firemen prepare to remove an uprooted tree as Super Typhoon Ragasa hits Hong KongCredit: AFP
Flights have been cancelled and communities locked down as ferocious winds batter the region.
At least four more people are known to have died in the Philippines, where nearly 700,000 people felt the force of the storm.
The deaths in Taiwan were reported in the eastern county of Hualien.
Some 129 people are also missing from the area after a town, Guangfu, was completely flooded by a lake which burst its banks.
Super Typhoon Ragasa – dubbed the “King of Storms” – is the strongest storm of 2025 and could become the fiercest ever recorded in Hong Kong.
The Observatory hoisted the maximum T10 warning signal in the early hours of Wednesday, warning the city to brace for “persistently adverse” weather.
Winds howled at 137mph and towering waves pounded Hong Kong’s shores.
As of 9am local time, 33 people had been injured in Hong Kong, according to the South China Morning Post.
Authorities warned storm surges could reach five metres – levels not seen since Typhoon Hato in 2017 and Mangkhut in 2018, which together caused billions in damage.
The storm brushed past Hong Kong and is expected to make landfall in southern China later today.
Huge waves crashed onto coastal areas of Hong Kong, but the city downgraded its warning to level from ten – the highest – to eight.
Red alerts have been issued in the mountain regions of Guangdong province for landslides.
Police are patrolling the streets with sirens and megaphones, warning people to stay indoors.