Super Typhoon Ragasa, the world's most powerful tropical cyclone this year, is heading for southern China after killing 14 people in Taiwan, leaving dozens missing and battering Hong Kong with fierce winds and torrential rain, Reuters reported, reports News.bg.
Some 129 people remain missing in Taiwan's eastern Hualien County after a barrier lake overflowed and flooded a town. Ragasa's outer edge hit the island on Monday.
Many residents of the tourist town of Guangfu complained of insufficient warning from Taiwanese authorities, who are usually quick to evacuate people from potentially dangerous areas on the typhoon-prone island.
As rains lashed Taiwan, Hong Kong faced huge waves crashing on the east and south coasts of the Asian financial hub.
Chinese authorities issued their highest wave warning - a "code red" - for the first time this year. Forecasts call for waves of up to 2.8 meters in parts of Guangdong province as Ragasa heads toward the densely populated Pearl River Delta.
Ragasa formed over the western Pacific Ocean last week. Fueled by warm seas and favorable weather conditions, the tropical cyclone quickly strengthened to a Category 5 storm on Monday with winds of more than 260 km/h.
It has since weakened to a Category 3 typhoon, but remains capable of downing trees and power lines, breaking windows and damaging buildings.
"Authorities have learned lessons from Hato and Mangkhut, which caused billions of dollars in damage in 2017 and 2018," said Chim Lee, a senior energy and climate change specialist.
"The Pearl River Delta is one of the best-prepared regions for typhoons, so we don't expect major disruptions. The change this year is that the Hong Kong stock market remained open during the typhoons, a sign of the resilience of the infrastructure, he added.
After moving about 100 km south of Hong Kong in the next few hours, Ragasa is expected to make landfall along China's southern coast in the late afternoon.
Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan and Dongguan, the largest cities in the storm's path, are home to about 50 million people.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations has sent tens of thousands of tents, folding beds, emergency lighting and other relief supplies to Guangdong, and more than 770,000 people have been evacuated.