Typhoon Ragasa: Hong Kong raises storm warning to highest levelSchools and businesses are shut as the typhoon lashed Hong Kong with hurricane-force winds and torrential rain. Hong Kong raised its typhoon signal to the highest level in the early hours of Wednesday (Sep 24) as cities in southern China prepared themselves for Super Typhoon Ragasa.
It has been described as the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year.
Hong Kong authorities are urging people to stay at home, with schools and businesses shut. A No 10 storm warning indicates sustained speeds of more than 118kmh. Follow our live coverage.Hong Kong resident Winnie Choi, who stays at Discovery Bay, said the storm was “really intense” last night and picked up around 11.30pm local time.
“A lot of us, including me, found it hard to sleep due to the sound of the wind and rain beating against the walls,” Ms Choi told CNA.
“Some of my colleagues are currently battling leaks and Wi-Fi outages while trying to work from home.”
The storm this morning is still going strong, Ms Choi added. “My balcony doors are creaking from the sheer force of the wind outside.”
Her balcony doors ripped open from the wind in the last typhoon.
“I heard the sound of glass breaking this morning – so it sounds like a few of my neighbours may have had their windows broken.
“And some of the paint from our building has also been stripped by the wind.”
Ms Choi added that she is “not too worried” about the typhoon.
“To be honest, not too worried aside from whether my balcony doors will hold up. Hong Kong’s infrastructure has improved significantly since one of the last super typhoons in 1962.”
Ms Choi expects the storm to blow over within two to three days, so she did not make many preparations aside from stocking her pantry with food and fixing areas in her house that might be prone to leaks.
“I’ve seen people tape up their windows but realistically, I don’t think it does anything except give a false peace of mind.”Regions across Taiwan have sent rescue teams to Hualien.
About 5,200 people, or about 60 per cent of Guangfu’s population, sought shelter on the higher floors of their own homes while most of the rest left to stay with their families, government data showed.
The government estimated the barrier lake contained 91 million tonnes of water, enough to fill about 36,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools and the equivalent of a major reservoir in southern Taiwan.
The lake overflowed to release about 60 million tonnes of water, the government said.
The typhoon brought about 70cm of rain to Taiwan’s east.
In 2009, Typhoon Morakot cut a swathe of destruction through the south, killing about 700 and causing damage of up to US$3 billion.
