Super Typhoon Ragasa tracker: Weaker storm moves towards Vietnam after drenching China

Storm battered Hong Kong and left at least 14 dead in Taiwan

The much weaker Tropical Storm Ragasa pushed west along the southern Chinese coast towards Vietnam on Thursday after flooding streets and homes in the economic hub of Guangdong province and causing deaths in Taiwan and the Philippines.

Ragasa churned into the Chinese province, home to tens of millions of people, with winds up to 145 kilometres per hour. The storm made landfall near Hailing Island at around 5pm on Wednesday.

By that point, authorities across China had already ordered businesses and schools to shut down in at least 10 cities across the nation's south, affecting tens of millions of people.

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Nearly 2.2 million people in Guangdong were relocated by Wednesday afternoon, but local officials later said several cities in the province started lifting restrictions on schools and businesses.

By Thursday morning, Ragasa's sustained winds had weakened to a maximum 65kph, and it was forecast to dissipate eventually while remaining a rain threat for Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Vietnam

In Vietnam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh ordered government ministries and local authorities to protect infrastructure, like dams and hospitals, secure fishing vessels and coastal assets, and ready evacuation and search and rescue operations.

Some flights were cancelled or rescheduled, and workers trimmed trees to avoid wind hazards in the northern part of the country.

The Vietnamese weather agency warned that parts of the country’s north could get rainfall exceeding 450 millimetres through Friday evening, as well as flash floods and landslides.

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  Cars swept away by floods in Hualien, Taiwan after a lake burst its banks because of Typhoon Ragasa. AFP

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  A man surveys the damage in Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong. AFP

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  A ravaged industrial estate in Yangjiang, southern China. AFP

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  Flooding in Shenzhen, China. AP

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  The clean-up begins in Yangjiang. AFP

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  A fallen tree in Yangjiang, part of Guangdong province. AFP

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  A collapsed bridge in Hualien, Taiwan. Reuters

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  The rain pours in Shenzhen, China. AP

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  The military helps out in Hualien. AFP

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  Trees block roads in Yangjiang. AFP

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  More debris in in Yangjiang. AFP

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  Mud covers areas of Hualien, Taiwan. Reuters

Taiwan

Ragasa's passage in Taiwan killed at least 14 and injured dozens more when a barrier lake burst in eastern Hualien county, according to regional officials who revised the death toll down from 17 after eliminating duplicate cases.

Authorities initially said 152 people were unaccounted for, but later made contact with more than 100 of them and were still trying to confirm the actual number of missing.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong authorities said 101 people were treated at public hospitals for injuries sustained during the typhoon as of Wednesday evening, with more than 900 people seeking refuge at 50 temporary shelters across the city.

About 1,000 flights were affected by Ragasa, the airport authority said, adding that they expected to return to normal operations within the next two days.

Hong Kong's weather service ranked the storm the strongest yet in the northwestern Pacific this year.

Philippines

In the Philippines, Ragasa left at least 11 dead, including seven fishermen who drowned on Monday when their boat overturned in northern Cagayan province. Two fishermen remained missing, officials said.

Nearly 700,000 people were affected by the onslaught, of whom 25,000 fled to government emergency shelters.