Super Typhoon Ragasa caused devastating damage to East Asia, killing at least 20 people and displacing close to 2 million people in the deadly path that peaked in the Philippines, Taiwan, and down to southern China. The storm had left Hong Kong on its knees due to record-high winds and storm surges, and Taiwan was devastated due to massive floods caused by an overtoppled natural dam that swept away whole communities in Hualien County.
Massive evacuations save lives across the southern China region
Almost 2 million inhabitants of southern China were flown off as the massive typhoon crashed on one of the most heavily populated coastal areas in the world, and had already caused fatal flooding in Taiwan, according to CNN. On Wednesday, the hurricane stalled finance capital Hong Kong, as well as swathes of southern China, following its path of destruction of the isolated islands in the Philippines and mountainous Taiwan.
The National Meteorological Center of China informed on Wednesday afternoon that Rogasa had already turned into a strong typhoon, but a weak typhoon after becoming a super typhoon. In China, the storm struck the Guangdong province at 5 p.m. local time, and then was supposed to pass into the Gulf of Tonkin between South China and Vietnam.
Hong Kong issues its top storm warning in decades
At 2:40 a.m. local time, an hour after it had issued its second-highest weather alert signal, No. 9, the Hong Kong Observatory issued its topmost warning signal, No. 10. Peak sustained wind of 120 mph was also experienced on the island of Lantau, which harbors Hong Kong International Airport. A total flood of nearly 5 feet of water swept the city as the storm surge.
Taiwan gets ruined with a dam burst and flood
National Fire Agency confirmed that at least 17 people had been killed in Taiwan, all in eastern Hualien County, where the floodwater in a barrier lake overwhelmed the township of Guangfu, according to NBC News. Town videos depict a massive flow of water in the town streets, and vehicles being carried away as people resided on higher ground, as their homes in the lower levels were flooded. At least three deaths were reported on Tuesday in the Philippines, where the storm also displaced thousands of people in the north of the country.
The natural dam had been created by debris from a July landslide, and the authorities had been warning for weeks that the distant lake might overflow by October. During a news conference on Wednesday, they said they had to assess the situation and found it not possible to dredge, siphon, or otherwise remove the dam barrier and decided to monitor the situation instead. Even the Hualien Bridge was washed downstream by the flood, which occurred after the collapse.
Climate change increases the storm patterns in regions
This has been a very stormy year in Hong Kong, which generally has some six typhoons per year, but Ragasa is the ninth typhoon to date this year, according to the City University of Hong Kong. Storms of such magnitude are not only becoming increasingly frequent but also more powerful, as climate change is increasing, according to Johnny Chan, an atmospheric scientist at the Asia-Pacific Typhoon Collaborative Research Centre.
The effects of more hazardous storms in the most vulnerable areas are demonstrated by a catastrophic storm like Super Typhoon Ragasa that struck East Asia. When the Taiwan and Philippine recovery operations are in progress, and southern Chinese consider the extent of the damage, the unparalleled force of the storm reminds us of the urgent need for better disaster preparedness and infrastructure resistant to climate in order to protect millions of lives in case of extreme weather.