Name: Super Typhoon Ragasa Batters Philippines, Threatens Taiwan & China
Uploaded: 2025-09-22T14:16:03.000Z
Duration: 3 min 2 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

One of the strongest storms of the year, Super Typhoon Ragasa, unleashed its fury across the northern Philippines on Monday,

forcing mass evacuations, school and office closures, and widespread power outages.

Packing sustained winds of 215 kmph and gusts up to 265 kmph, Ragasa was tracked east of Calayan Town in Cagayan Province.

Forecasters warned it could skirt close to or directly hit the Babuyan Islands by midday or early afternoon.

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. suspended classes and government work across Manila and 29 northern provinces.

More than 8,200 people evacuated in Cagayan, while 1,220 residents sought shelters in Apayao, where flash floods and landslides remain a serious threat.

The Weather Bureau warned of a high risk of life-threatening storm surges, with waves exceeding 3 metres 10 feet, in Cagayan, Batons, Ilocos Norte, and Ilocos Sur.

Disaster officials reported power outages on Calayan Island and across Apayao Province.

Domestic flights were cancelled and fishing boats and inter-island ferries were grounded due to treacherous seas.

Despite the destruction, no immediate casualties were reported.

Qantas Airways said Hong Kong International Airport will suspend all passenger flights for 36 hours from Tuesday evening,

as the Asian financial hub prepares for one of its strongest supertyphoons in years.

Hong Kong's airport will be closed from 8pm, 12 o'clock GMT, on September 23 to 8am on September 25,

Qantas said in a statement, adding that it would contact customers who are affected.

A spokesperson for airport authority Hong Kong said it is closely monitoring the developments regarding the supertyphoon, named Ragasa,

and has commenced preparations to deal with the storm.

But it has not made an official announcement on the closure.

The weather is expected to deteriorate rapidly from Tuesday and gale force to storm force winds will impact the densely populated city on Wednesday,

with winds expected to reach hurricane force offshore and on high ground.

Across the city, residents started stockpiling daily necessities on Monday morning.

Long queues formed at supermarkets where products like milk had already sold out,

while vegetables were being sold for more than triple their normal price at fresh markets, according to Reuters witnesses.

Cathay Pacific Airways, the city's largest carrier, expects TO cancel around 500 flights from Tuesday.

Ragasa, locally named Nando, is the 14th storm to hit the Philippines this year.

It comes as the country reels from a corruption scandal over flood control projects, a bitter irony as devastating floods loom.

The storm is forecast to move into the South China Sea, passing south of Taiwan and Hong Kong, before making landfall in southeastern China later this week.