MANILA – The strongest storm of the year so far has descended on the northern Philippines with destructive winds and torrential rain, prompting evacuations of thousands of people and preparations in nearby Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China.

Typhoon Ragasa, known in the Philippines as Nando, made landfall over Panuitan Island, in the northern Cagayan province, on Monday, according to the country’s meteorological agency (PAGASA) – after generating sustained winds of over 267 kph (165 mph), the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane.

Tens of millions of people could be impacted by the storm, which is expected to pass over parts of the Asian island nation before heading toward the major cities of Hong Kong and Macau, and mainland China’s Guangdong Province.

“Local winds may be slightly stronger/enhanced in coastal and upland/mountainous areas exposed to winds. Winds are less strong in areas sheltered from the prevailing wind direction,” PAGASA said.

As of Monday morning, the storm was located just over 1,000 km east-southeast of Hong Kong and moving west at roughly 23 kph (14 mph).

Even without making direct landfall in the Philippines, Ragasa’s outer bands will unleash torrential rain and destructive wind gusts of over 315 kph (195 mph). Flooding and landslides are possible in northern Luzon, where rainfall totals could exceed 400 mm (15 inches) in some spots.

Huge waves of three meters (10 feet) or more threaten to inundate coastal areas of the Philippines’ Batanes and Babuyan Islands, eastern Taiwan, and later southern China and Vietnam.

The Philippines’ meteorological agency issued its highest tropical cyclone wind signal No. 5 on Monday morning for the northern Babuyan Islands, warning of “potentially very destructive” conditions and “a high risk of life-threatening storm (surges)” for those areas.”

More than 10,000 people were evacuated across northern and central Luzon, the Philippines Department of the Interior and Local Government said in a statement. “Homes and property can be rebuilt, but lives lost can never be replaced,” the department said, urging residents to heed evacuation warnings.

Video from Camiguin Island, posted by the department, showed fierce winds and ocean water whipping past houses onto a residential street. Work and classes were suspended across a large part of the country, including the capital area Metro Manila. Hospitals in northern Cagayan province were also put on alert.

Flood warnings have also been issued for low-lying areas of the Philippines’s Luzon as Ragasa’s winds enhance torrential monsoon rains and the threat of damaging floods.

The archipelago experiences multiple typhoons annually, but the human-caused climate crisis has made storms more unpredictable and extreme – while leaving the nation’s poorest most vulnerable.

In 2024, the Philippines was hit by four typhoons in less than two weeks, causing extensive damage from torrential rain, storm surges and landslides.

Elsewhere in the region, authorities announced several safeguarding measures for civilians before the storm is set to make landfall – including school closures, the halt of key transport links and evacuation orders.

In China, officials were preparing to relocate 400,000 people from low-lying and coastal areas of Shenzhen – a megacity with about 17.5 million residents. Further north, trains will be gradually suspended on Tuesday throughout Guangdong province, railway authorities said.

Taiwan authorities issued a land and sea warning, announced suspensions of some ferry services and closures of nature trails in southern and eastern counties – ahead of heavy rain and flooding. In the eastern Hualien County, about 300 residents were put on standby alone for evacuation.

After skirting south of Taiwan, Ragasa is expected to move south of Hong Kong early Wednesday, with maximum winds forecast to be just over 200 kph, and gusts up to 250 kph, the equivalent of a strong Category 3 hurricane, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

The financial hub has stepped up preparations to deal with flooding, landslides and fallen trees, according to the government, including the closure of schools on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Hong Kong-based airline, Cathay Pacific Airway, will stop passenger flights scheduled to leave and arrive in the city on Tuesday evening, according to the Associated Press. More than 500 flights are expected to be canceled.

All schools in Hong Kong will be suspended from Tuesday through Wednesday, the government said on Monday. Local district offices will facilitate temporary shelters, while emergency police, fire and medical crews are on full standby.

Sea conditions may be similar to previous deadly and destructive storms, including Typhoon Hato, which brought massive winds and flooding to the cities of Macau and Hong Kong in 2017 and Typhoon Mangkhut, which pummelled Hong Kong and southern China after killing dozens in the Philippines in 2018, the government warned.

Last month, Hong Kong recorded its highest daily rainfall during the month of August since records began in 1884.

“Extreme precipitation events have become more frequent. The hourly rainfall record at the Hong Kong Observatory Headquarters used to be broken once every few decades in the past. However, the record has been broken several times in the recent few decades,” the Hong Kong Observatory said on its website.

The western Pacific is the most active tropical basin on Earth, and September is often its busiest stretch. Ragasa is a reminder of how quickly storms in this region can ramp up and how destructive they can be as they approach densely populated coastlines.

Global ocean temperatures have been at record levels for each of the last eight years. Hotter oceans, supercharged by human-caused global warming, provide ample energy for storms to strengthen.

Super Typhoon Ragasa’s rapid intensification came by way of an eyewall replacement cycle, where a secondary ring of thunderstorms forms outside the storm’s core and gradually replaces the original inner eyewall.

Once this is complete, the storm emerges larger with a broader wind field and a more powerful eye. These explosive bursts of strengthening are becoming more common as the world warms. – CNN