Most powerful storm on earth this year lashes Philippines. Hong Kong, Taiwan and southern China on alert Helen Regan, Briana Waxman, CNNSeptember 22, 2025 at 1:11 AM 0 A man stands near debris on a waterfront road amid heavy rain due to Super Typhoon Ragasa in Aparri town, Cagayan province on Septem...
- - Most powerful storm on earth this year lashes Philippines. Hong Kong, Taiwan and southern China on alert
Helen Regan, Briana Waxman, CNNSeptember 22, 2025 at 1:11 AM
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A man stands near debris on a waterfront road amid heavy rain due to Super Typhoon Ragasa in Aparri town, Cagayan province on September 22, 2025. - John Dimain/AFP/Getty Images
The strongest storm anywhere in the world this year is passing over 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.
After undergoing rapid intensification over the Philippine Sea, Ragasa – known in the Philippines as Nando – was a large and powerful super typhoon, packing 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, expected to make landfall in or pass close to Batanes and the Babuyan Islands, north of the Philippines' Luzon, later Monday before heading toward the major cities of Hong Kong and Macau, and mainland China's Guangdong Province.
"Life-threatening conditions persist over the northern portion of northern Luzon as 'Nando' approaches the Babuyan islands," the Philippines meteorological agency 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.
Dangerous storm surge of 3 meters (10 feet) or more and massive waves threaten to inundate coastal areas of the Philippines' Batanes and Babuyan Islands, eastern Taiwan, and later southern China and Vietnam.
Thousands evacuated in the Philippines
The Philippines issued its highest tropical cyclone wind signal No. 5 Monday morning for the Babuyan Islands, warning of "potentially very destructive" conditions and "a high risk of life-threatening storm (surges)" for those areas, according to PAGASA.
More than 10,000 people were evacuated across northern and central Luzon ahead of the typhoon, 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 as it urged residents to heed evacuation warnings.
Video from Camiguin Island, posted by the department, showed fierce winds and ocean water surging 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.
A man walks along a road amid heavy rain due to Super Typhoon Ragasa in Lal-lo town, Cagayan province on September 22, 2025. - John Dimain/AFP/Getty Images
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.
Hong Kong, Taiwan, Guangdong on alert
The super typhoon has put officials in Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China's Guangdong province on alert.
Taiwan has issued a land and sea warning, announced suspensions of some ferry services and closures of nature trails across its southern and eastern countries as eastern portions of the island are expected to be hit by heavy rain, and mountainous areas are at risk of flooding and landslides.
About 300 residents in Hualien County have been put on standby for possible evacuation.
After skirting south of Taiwan, Ragasa is expected to pass 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.
Hong Kong Airport is reportedly planning to halt all passenger flights for 36 hours as the typhoon approaches on Tuesday evening local time, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Australia's national carrier Qantas said in a statement that flights to and from Hong Kong will be impacted from Tuesday evening to Thursday morning.
"Gale to storm force winds will prevail on Wednesday, and winds may reach hurricane force offshore and on high ground," the government said Monday.
It warned that 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.
Local fishermen tied up their boats inside a boat haven before Typhoon Ragasa hits Hong Kong on September 21, 2025. - Sawayasu Tsuji/Getty Images
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.
Climate crisis supercharging typhoons
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.
Hurricane Erin, a powerful storm which crossed the North Atlantic in August, underwent a similar historic intensification.
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