Super Typhoon Ragasa, a storm of rare intensity, has battered the northern Philippines and is now barreling toward southern China, prompting mass evacuations and widespread disruption across the region. The typhoon, classified as a Category 5 hurricane, made landfall on Monday, September 22, 2025, in the Philippines’ Calayan province, unleashing sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour (134 miles per hour) and gusts reaching up to 295 kilometers per hour. The sheer force of Ragasa has left a trail of destruction, forced tens of thousands from their homes, and triggered emergency responses from governments in its projected path.
According to Philippine weather officials cited by ABC News and France 24, the typhoon’s eye hit Calayan Island at 3pm local time (07:00 GMT) on Monday. The storm’s arrival was anything but subtle. Residents described a night of terror as winds howled and battered their homes. "I woke up because of the strong wind. It was hitting the windows, and it sounded like a machine that was switched on," said Tirso Tugagao, a resident of Aparri in Cagayan province, to AFP. In Calayan, the devastation was immediate: roofs were torn off, trees toppled, and even evacuation centers were not spared. Herbert Singun, an information officer on the island, recounted, "Parts of a school's roof had been ripped off and landed on an evacuation centre about 30 metres away, leading to one minor injury." He added, "Can you see those coconut trees swaying in the distance? There were eight of them before. Now only four are still standing. That goes to show how strong this typhoon is."
The numbers tell a story of urgent flight and disruption. More than 8,200 people were evacuated to safety in Cagayan province, while 1,220 sought emergency shelter in neighboring Apayao, reported Reuters. Across the Philippines, just over 10,000 people were forced to leave their homes as the typhoon bore down. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. responded by suspending government work and classes in the capital Manila and 29 northern Luzon provinces, hoping to keep people out of harm’s way.
But Ragasa’s wrath was not confined to the Philippines. As the typhoon churned westward across the South China Sea, Chinese authorities braced for impact. In Shenzhen, a sprawling metropolis bordering Hong Kong, plans were set in motion to evacuate 400,000 residents from coastal and low-lying areas, as reported by France 24 and Reuters. Other cities across Guangdong province followed suit, canceling classes, suspending work, and halting public transportation in anticipation of severe winds and flooding expected from Tuesday evening onward.
Hong Kong, too, was on high alert. Cathay Pacific, the city’s flagship airline, announced the cancellation of more than 500 flights, with passenger operations at Hong Kong International Airport suspended from 6pm Tuesday and not expected to resume until daytime hours on Thursday. Residents rushed to supermarkets to stock up on essentials, with images of crowded aisles and anxious faces circulating widely in local media.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s government issued both land and sea warnings, canceled 146 domestic flights, and evacuated over 900 people from mountainous regions in the south and east. The state weather service predicted a high chance of "extremely torrential rain" in the country's east, warning that the storm’s broad wind field—spanning roughly 320 kilometers—could bring dangerous conditions even without a direct hit. James Wu, a fire department officer in Pingtung, told AFP, "What worries us more is that the damage could be similar to what happened during Typhoon Koinu two years ago," referencing a storm infamous for collapsing utility poles and sending metal rooftops flying.
Vietnam’s Defence Ministry, not taking any chances, ordered its forces to monitor Ragasa’s trajectory closely and prepare for possible landfall later in the week, according to Reuters. The storm’s projected path sees it lingering in the South China Sea until at least Wednesday, passing south of Taiwan and Hong Kong before threatening the Chinese mainland.
In the Philippines, the threat extended beyond wind and rain. The national weather agency warned of a "high risk of life-threatening storm surge with peak heights exceeding 3 metres (nearly 10 feet) within the next 24 hours" in low-lying or exposed coastal localities across the northern provinces of Cagayan, Batanes, Ilocos Norte, and Ilocos Sur. Severe flooding and landslides were also expected in northern Luzon, with weather specialist John Grender Almario cautioning, "severe flooding and landslides could be expected in the northern areas of the main island of Luzon."
Ragasa is the 14th weather disturbance to hit the Philippines in 2025, a grim tally for a nation already grappling with the aftermath of previous storms and a recent corruption scandal involving flood-control projects. The timing could not be worse: just a day before Ragasa’s landfall, thousands of Filipinos took to the streets in Manila to protest against shoddy or incomplete flood defenses, a stark reminder of the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters.
As the typhoon moved on, the scale of the disruption became clear. Schools and government offices remained closed, flights were grounded, and daily life ground to a halt across much of the region. The storm’s intensity was a sobering example of the growing power of tropical cyclones in a warming world. Scientists, as noted by France 24, have warned that storms like Ragasa are becoming more frequent and severe due to human-driven climate change, making preparedness and resilience more important than ever.
For now, communities from the Philippines to China and beyond are left to pick up the pieces and brace for what comes next. The full toll of Super Typhoon Ragasa will only become clear in the days ahead, but its impact—on infrastructure, livelihoods, and the sense of security of millions—will be felt long after the winds subside.