Typhoon Ragasa hits China, leaves mayhem in Philippines

More than 2 million people evacuated parts of south China’s Guangdong province on Wednesday as Typhoon Ragasa hit. The storm barreled ashore near the city of Yangjiang with sustained winds of about 89 mph, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. It was a Category 1 hurricane by U.S. standards—the strongest typhoon to hit China so far this year. The storm was expected to weaken as it continued moving westward over China, Xinhua reported.

How have other countries in the South Pacific suffered? The powerful storm left 17 dead and the same number missing in Taiwan on Wednesday, after its intense rainfall caused a lake to overflow. Floodwaters and mudslides a story tall surged into the township of Guangfu, Taiwan News reported. More than 8,000 people left areas at risk of more flooding from the lake, according to the outlet.

The typhoon first made landfall over islands in the Philippines on Monday, killing at least three people there and displacing tens of thousands, according to The Weather Channel. At the time, its maximum sustained winds were blowing at 134 miles per hour, making it a Category 4 hurricane by U.S. standards, according to the Philippines’ weather bureau. Tropical storm Opong was nearing the Philippines on Wednesday in the typhoon’s wake, according to weather authorities.

Dig deeper: Read my report on Hurricane Gabrielle’s rapid intensification into a Category 3 storm in the Atlantic.