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Super Typhoon Ragasa, the world's astir almighty tropical cyclone this year, lashed Hong Kong with hurricane-force winds and torrential rainfall connected Wednesday (September 24, 2025) arsenic the metropolis unopen down and much than 700 flights were cancelled.
The typhoon sparked panic buying this week, with radical piling into supermarkets, leaving small connected the shelves and successful immoderate cases queuing for hours to acquisition goods amid fears that shops could beryllium closed for 2 days.
As the typhoon approached, residents crossed the metropolis taped their windows successful the anticipation of minisiming immoderate information from shattered glass.
Packing hurricane-force winds of up to 200 kph (124 mph), Ragasa volition beryllium closest to Hong Kong aboriginal Wednesday morning, skirting astir 100 km to the southbound of the territory.
Hong Kong issued the typhoon awesome 10, its highest, precocious connected Tuesday, which urges astir businesses and transport services to unopen down.
"Seas volition beryllium phenomenal with swells. There volition beryllium overtopping waves implicit the shoreline, which volition beryllium peculiarly important on the eastbound and confederate coasts," the observatory said.
Authorities person warned of rising oversea levels, saying they could beryllium akin to those seen during Typhoon Hato successful 2017 and Typhoon Mangkhut successful 2018, some of which caused billions of dollars successful damage.
The observatory said h2o levels person started to emergence owed to a important tempest surge and volition scope a maximum of astir 4 metres (13 feet) astir noon (0400 GMT).
The fiscal hub has already opened 49 impermanent shelters successful assorted districts and 727 radical person sought refuge astatine the shelters.
Hong Kong's Stock Exchange volition stay open. It changed its argumentation precocious past twelvemonth to proceed trading immoderate the weather. Ragasa volition support ace typhoon strength arsenic it edges person to the seashore of Guangdong, mainland China and Taiwan, aft sweeping done the bluish Philippines connected Monday. It is expected to marque landfall on Guangdong's seashore from midday to precocious Wednesday.
Guangdong authorities evacuated implicit 770,000 people, authorities broadcaster CCTV said. In the gambling hub of Macau adjacent to Hong Kong, authorities issued the No. 10 informing awesome astatine 5.30 a.m.
