As many as 400,000 people are being evacuated from parts of China over a powerful typhoon that has slammed into the Philippines and Taiwan.
Schools and businesses have shut down, most flights have been grounded, and supermarket shelves are being emptied amid Super Typhoon Ragasa, which has already recorded wind speeds of about 137 mph.
Tens of millions of residents could be impacted as Ragasa is set to pass south of the major cities of Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, before making landfall again in the mainland Guangdong Province.
Entire megacities have been brought to a standstill as authorities issued dual red alerts for storm surges and high waves, warning that Guangdong will be hit by waves as high as 23 feet.
Guangzhou – a city of 18.6 million people – may issue its highest red alert today.
And in Shenzhen – home to another 17.5 million – officials are preparing to relocate almost half a million residents from low-lying and coastal areas.
The National Meteorological Center said Ragasa would make landfall in the coastal area between Zhuhai and Zhanjiang cities between midday and evening on Wednesday.
What is the aftermath in the Philippines and Taiwan?
In the Philippines, at least three people have died and five others are still missing after Ragasa made landfall on Monday.
More than 17,500 people have since been displaced amid flooding and landslides set off by the most powerful storm to hit the Southeast Asian archipelago this year.
One of the victims is a 74-year-old man, who died while being brought to a hospital.
He had been pinned in one of four vehicles that were partly buried by mud, rocks and trees that cascaded down a mountainside onto a road in the mountain town of Tuba in Benguet province, officials said.
Two other villagers died in the storm, including a resident in Calayan town.
Ragasa prompted the Philippine government on Monday to close schools and government offices in the densely populated capital region and 29 northern provinces.
Fishing boats and ferries were prohibited from venturing into very rough seas and domestic flights were cancelled.
In Taiwan, at least six people were injured and more than 7,000 residents were evacuated as the typhoon swept south of the island.
What is a super typhoon?
The term ‘super typhoon’ is used for the most intense type of typhoon, characterised by its extremely high sustained wind speeds, typically exceeding 150 mph.
A hurricane is the same weather phenomenon, but is given that name when it forms over different geographic regions, specifically the North Atlantic and the Northeast and Central Pacific oceans.
A super typhoon is the equivalent of a strong category 4 or category 5 hurricane.
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