When Super Typhoon Ragasa rolled ashore Wednesday, Hong Kong—home to 7.5 million people—went from bustling metropolis to ghost town in minutes. The Observatory, which grades cyclones on a 1‑to‑10 scale, slapped a level‑10 alert on the city, a rating never seen in the past three decades. That alone signaled that residents should hunker down, but the storm’s actual fury proved the warning was no exaggeration.
Ragasa’s Assault on Hong Kong
Morning commuters woke to rain that quickly turned into a deluge. Within an hour, sea water surged through exposed embankments, turning quiet canals into roaring rivers. In one of the most dramatic episodes, a wave smashed the lobby of a five‑star hotel on the waterfront, sending shattered glass and panicked guests spilling onto the floor. In low‑lying districts, waves rose higher than street lamps, trapping families in their apartments until emergency crews could pry doors open.
Wind records shattered long‑standing local benchmarks. A Chuandao weather station logged a gust of roughly 150 mph (about 240 km/h), eclipsing the previous high by over 30 mph. Sustained winds hovered around 120 mph, putting Ragasa in the Category 3‑4 hurricane range on the Saffir‑Simpson scale. The combination of speed and moisture whipped the sea into 38‑foot rollers that slammed against the harbor’s breakwaters, eroding piers and snapping off floating moorings.
Authorities acted swiftly. Public transportation halted at 7 a.m., ferry services were pulled from the water, and the MTR (mass transit railway) shut every line. Schools, offices and most shops closed, and the city’s streets emptied as residents heeded the “stay indoors” plea. Police patrols roamed neighborhoods, not to enforce curfews, but to warn against touching downed power lines and to guide anyone caught outside to safe shelters.
Even after the eye passed around midday, the Observatory warned that gusty squalls would linger for hours. “Do not touch electric cables that have been blown loose,” the mid‑afternoon advisory read. Emergency teams stayed on high alert, ready to respond to landslides, flooded basements and the inevitable power outages that followed when wind knocked down overhead lines.
Regional Fallout and Evacuations
Hong Kong’s ordeal was part of a larger, deadly trajectory. Earlier in the week Ragasa battered Taiwan, where relentless rain breached a hillside dam, releasing a torrent that claimed 14‑15 lives and swept away a bridge connecting two rural towns. In the Philippines, the storm’s outer bands produced flash floods that left at least three fatalities.
As the cyclone pushed west‑southwest, it set its sights on China’s Guangdong Province. Chinese officials, anticipating a landfall near the Leizhou Peninsula, launched one of the biggest evacuations in recent memory, moving almost 2 million people from flood‑prone zones to higher ground. Temporary shelters sprouted in schools, community centers and stadiums, each stocked with blankets, food rations and medical kits.
Local media in Hong Kong dubbed Ragasa the “King of Storms,” a moniker echoed by meteorologists who noted it was among the strongest tropical systems recorded globally this year. The U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center projected that while the storm would lose some intensity over land, it would continue to batter southern China and later scour the borders of Vietnam and Laos with heavy rain.
Southern Chinese cities that hadn’t yet felt the full brunt of the storm pre‑emptively dialed back daily life on Tuesday. Airports canceled flights, shipping ports delayed cargo, and factories slowed production in anticipation of floodwaters and wind damage. The economic ripple was already noticeable: stock markets in Hong Kong and Guangzhou dipped, and insurance firms began fielding a surge of claims for property damage and business interruptions.
- Record gusts: ~150 mph (240 km/h) in Chuandao.
- Maximum sustained winds: 120 mph (190 km/h).
- Wave heights: up to 38 feet (12 m).
- Fatalities before Hong Kong: 14‑15 in Taiwan, 3 in the Philippines.
- Evacuated in Guangdong: ~2 million people.
Even as Ragasa’s eye moved away from Hong Kong in the early afternoon, the city’s infrastructure showed signs of strain. Power outages dotted the landscape, water mains burst under pressure, and debris clogged major thoroughfares. Yet the collective response—quick warnings, massive evacuations, and a populace staying put—illustrated how modern urban centers can weather nature’s worst when preparation meets resolve.
