Summary

Live Reporting

Edited by Yvette Tan and Tinshui Yeung, with Laura Bicker in southern China, Lok Lee in Taipei, Martin Yip in Hong Kong

  1. Macau residents go fishing in floodwaters

    Martin Yip
    BBC News Chinese, in Hong Kong

    A man catching a fish from the flooded watercclwss/Threads

    A verified video circulating on social media shows a man catching a fish from the flooded water

    As the streets of Macau were flooded with seawater, some residents took it not as an inconvenience - but rather turned it into an opportunity.

    Dozens flocked to the streets as soon as floodwaters started to recede - despite the city's highest typhoon warning - bringing their own fishing nets, buckets and even wooden rods in an attempt to catch the many fish that had been washed ashore.

    Video footage sent to the BBC shows jubilant crowds running around the knee-deep waters in an attempt to score their catch.

    But it was a more serious story in other parts of Macau, with its meteorological agency saying that residents in some areas had to be evacuated on inflatable boats. The city's sole electricity company also cut the power supply for hours on safety grounds.

    However, as the Met Bureau downgraded its typhoon signal, the city is likely breathing a sigh of relief - and for some, that could mean enjoying some freshly caught fish.

  2. Howling winds and sheets of rain: In the eye of a typhoon in China

    Laura Bicker
    China correspondent

    Watch: BBC correspondent reports from southern China hit by 'king of storms'

    I'm here in Zhuhai on China's southern coast, where the sound of rush hour has been replaced by howling winds and sheets of rain.

    Branches from falling trees and what looked like pieces of metal from the edge of a building flew along empty roads on Wednesday as typhoon Ragasa bore down.

    Police vehicles have been patrolling the streets with megaphones, urging people to stay inside - but it is difficult to hear them above gusts of 100mph (160km/h) winds.

    Still, the thundering skies and a drenched Zhuhai are enough of a warning – apart from an occasional cyclist, determined to get to work, most people heeded the advice, bringing this city of almost three million people to a standstill.

    Read more on what the situation on the ground in southern China.

  3. Death toll rises to 17 after Taiwan lake overflow
    Breaking

    The number of people killed after a barrier lake burst its banks in Taiwan has risen by two to a total of 17.

    The Matai'an Creek barrier lake burst after heavy rains from Typhoon Ragasa, releasing millions of tonnes of water.

  4. More rain expected after Ragasa

    Sarah Keith-Lucas
    Lead Weather Presenter, BBC Weather

    Map showing rainfall, with the heaviest along China's southern coast

    In the wake of Typhoon Ragasa, further bands of heavy rainfall will continue to impact parts of southern China, northern Vietnam, the central Philippines and eastern Taiwan with ongoing flooding impacts likely.

    The wet season in this region runs from June to October, and much of the annual rainfall is from typhoons and tropical storms.

    However, average monthly totals for September are roughly 350mm for the region, but the next few days could bring as much as 450mm.

    The ground is already very saturated. More than 400mm fell last week from Tropical Storm Mitag.

  5. Watch: Surge of water breaks through glass at Hong Kong hotel

    Typhoon Ragasa did not make landfall in Hong Kong, but the storm brought violent winds and rain as it passed nearby. At a hotel, a powerful surge of water shattered glass doors, sweeping one worker off his feet.

    Watch that moment below:

  6. Photos show a path of destruction across Hong Kong

    Typhoon Ragasa has just made landfall near the southern Chinese city of Yangjiang. It earlier passed near Hong Kong, leaving at least 62 people injured.

    Hong Kong has now started to lower its storm warnings and we are receiving more images of the aftermath.

    A person in a pink rain poncho stands next to a huge uprooted tree laying on its sideGetty Images
    A woman holding an umbrella stands between shopfronts on the edge of a flooded street, with the water in the foregroundGetty Images
    Emergency workers wearing helmets and hi-vis orange uniforms carry out drainage work in a flood area in front of buildings, amid semi-submerged objectsGetty Images
    A person obscured under a pink umbrella walks down a rain-slick street surrounded by fallen trees and debrisGetty Images
    A playground partially submerged in floodwatersGetty Images

  7. Storm makes landfall close to Yangjiang

    Sarah Keith-Lucas
    Lead weather presenter

    As we mentioned earlier, the storm has now made landfall close to Yangjiang. It crossed the mainland coast at 09:00 GMT with sustained winds of 89mph (144km/h) and higher gusts.

    Wind speeds will gradually weaken now as the storm moves westwards over land, and the storm surge will start to ease, but rain will be torrential and slow moving across the region for several more days.

  8. Typhoon Ragasa makes landfall in southern China
    Breaking

    We're getting reports that Ragasa has now made landfall on the coast of Hailing Island, which is in Yangjiang city, part of China's southern Guangdong province.

    The typhoon made landfall at around 17:00 local time (10:00 BST) today, and the maximum wind speed at time of landfall near the centre was 144km/h (89mph), said state broadcaster CCTV.

    We'll bring you the latest on this as soon as we have more.

  9. Ragasa downgraded to severe typhoon

    Two people, one in a yellow high-vis raincoat and the other in a black jacket and shorts, stand on a road with their backs to the camera, surveying the fallen trees and debris left by the typoonEPA

    The Hong Kong Observatory says Ragasa has weakened from a super typhoon to a severe typhoon.

    Ragasa is departing from Hong Kong gradually, the meteorological service says, but there is still danger with gale to storm force winds still affecting many places of the territory.

    It forecasts frequent squally, or violent, rain showers and thunderstorms, with high swells on the seas that will overlap the shoreline.

    The newly downgraded severe typhoon is forecast to continue to move west, edging closer to the western coast of Guangdong.

  10. Shenzhen ends city shutdown as Ragasa leaves

    Since yesterday, residents in the Chinese city of Shenzhen have hunkered down as businesses, schools and transport were suspended in anticipation of Typhoon Ragasa.

    About an hour ago, at 16:00 local time (08:00 GMT), the city ended its shutdown.

    "Typhoon Ragasa is gradually weakening and moving away from our city," Shenzhen's disaster prevention authority said in a statement.

    It added that the city's meteorological station has downgraded its typhoon warning from red - the highest level - to yellow.

    Shenzhen, known as China's Silicon Valley, is home to the country's largest tech companies and electronics manufacturers. Many of them had told employees to stay home as Typhoon Ragasa approached China's southern coast.

  11. Typhoon Ragasa set to make landfall earlier than forecast

    Sarah Keith-Lucas
    Lead weather presenter

    Typhoon Ragasa has taken a turn towards the north on approach to the Guangdong coast, and is set to make to landfall earlier and further north than previously forecast.

    The most damaging part of the storm know as the "dirty side" is now approaching Yangjiang.

    Tropical storms including hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones have a "clean" side and a "dirty" side, and the dirty side can be 50% stronger than the clean side.

    In the northern hemisphere, the right hand side of the storm (relative to its motion) is know as the "dirty side" and can be much more destructive than the left hand side.Read more here: Why the dirty side of Typhoon Ragasa is the most dangerous part

    Satellite image of circulating cloud around a typhoon. Wind arrows shown moving anti-clockwise around the storm combining with winds flowing west.

    Forward motion combines with circulation in the right-front quadrant leading to the strongest winds, heaviest rain and biggest storm surge

  12. Taiwan premier demands inquiry into evacuations after typhoon kills 15

    A car is almost totally submerged in floodwaters where debris are also floating as trees and a residential area are seen in the backgroundreuter

    Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai has called for an inquiry into the disaster response after Typhoon Ragasa caused a barrier lake to burst its banks, unleashing floodwaters.

    The death toll from the floods has risen to 15 people, and there are 17 people still missing, according to Taiwanese authorities.

    All the casualties were from the township of Guangfu, which Cho visited on Wednesday, pledging support for affected families. Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim also visited the township to meet affected residents.

    "For the 14 who have tragically passed away, we must investigate why evacuation orders were not carried out in the areas we had asked for, which led to such a tragedy," Cho told reporters before the toll rose to 15. "This is not about assigning blame, but about uncovering the truth."

  13. Evacuation centre not spared from floods in Taiwan

    Lok Lee
    BBC Chinese, Taipei

    Two damaged cars (one red and one white) float in the grey floodwater in Guangfu Township, HualienProvided by interviewee

    The school administrator was shocked to see floating vehicles after the township was flooded

    A high school in Guangfu township that was designated an evacuation centre is now flooded.

    An administrator tasked with helping evacuees said that around 15:00 local time on Tuesday, he heard that the Matai’an Creek barrier lake had burst thorough its banks.

    “There were no special flooding warnings and no broadcast,” he said. Moments later, flood waters reached the school.

    “Within 10 minutes, the water spread to the campus from the street. The 400-sqm sports ground was submerged." 



    Chairs, tables, refrigerators and even cars were soon floating.

    “I was really shocked. It felt exactly like what we saw from the TV report of the tsunami after the 2011 Japan earthquake.”

    He said officials may have underestimated Ragasa's impact - the lake, which was formed after a landslide two months ago, did not breach its bank when a weaker typhoon hit last month. 



    "If I were still on the street, I wouldn’t have been able to reach higher ground," he said.

    “There were lots of objects floating in the water. I could have been hit or even electrocuted."

  14. Map shows Ragasa's path

    Weather authorities have released illustrative maps showing where Super Typhoon Ragasa has already hit - and where it's headed next.

    Having already barrelled through the north of the Philippines, the south of Taiwan and Hong Kong, the storm is predicted to make landfall on the south-eastern coast of mainland China today.

    Come Thursday, the South East Asian nations of Vietnam and Laos are expected to be in the firing line.

    A map showing the expected path of typhoon Ragasa, with Hong Kong, Guangdong province, other parts of southern China and Vietnam and Laos all covered by a patch of darker blue showing the storm's path

  15. Record-breaking winds hit city in Guangdong

    A man wearing a face mask rides a motorbike with ships docked in the backgroundGetty Images

    A man rides a motorbike in Jiangmen, Guangdong, China ahead of the storm's arrival

    The coastal city of Jiangmen, in Guangdong province, said that it has recorded its strongest storm winds ever at 12:00 local time (04:00 GMT).

    Wind speeds reached 67m/s (241km/h) in Taishan county - exceeding previous recorded of 54.6m/s (196km/h) during Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018.

    The city is bracing for more winds and torrential rain from Ragasa, which is expected to make landfall in Guangdong province later today.

    "Jiangmen has entered the most crucial and tense phase of its typhoon response," the city's government wrote on its official Wechat account.

  16. Storm leaves 62 injured in Hong Kong

    Sixty-two people have been injured by the typhoon in Hong Kong, according to public broadcaster RTHK.

    While Ragasa did not make landfall in Hong Kong, it skirted past the city this morning and unleashed powerful winds and heavy rain.

    There were more than 400 reports of fallen trees, 15 reports of flooding and one landslide, RTHK reported.

  17. Ragasa weakens but remains powerful

    Sarah Keith-Lucas
    Lead weather presenter, BBC Weather

    A map showing Typhoon Ragasa's path

    Ragasa has weakened over recent hours as it approaches land but it remains a very strong typhoon with maximum sustained winds of 176km/h (109mph) and 268km/h gusts.

    As the Typhoon continues to move westwards winds will ease further over the next few hours but the storm will still be very powerful with expected gusts of around 175km/h on landfall.

    The eye of the storm is expected to make landfall at 15:00 GMT today (23:00 local) near the city of Zhanjiang in Guangdong.

    Some of the worst impacts from winds and the largest storm surges will occur to the north of the eye, along the Guangdong coastline towards Yangjiang.

    Coastal inundation is possible here as the storm surge reaches 2-3m widely but possibly 4-5m in the worst affected parts.

    Additionally, 250-450mm of rain is forecast across the region which is falling on saturated ground following the passage of storm Mitag last week.

  18. Ragasa is drawing closer - and you can feel it

    Laura Bicker
    China correspondent, reporting from Zhuhai

    We're in the lobby of our hotel, where we are sheltering from the approaching typhoon while we go on air.

    You can feel the gusts of wind and see the huge swathes of rain that are battling the coastline.

    As Ragasa makes its way along the southern coast of China, there have been mass evacuations across the densely populated Guangdong province.

    This is a province with huge factories - this is where most of what is made in China comes from, and it's home to the city of Shenzhen, which is a technology hub.

    Right now we are in Zhuhai city, where a month's worth of rain is expected in the next few hours - and you can feel that warning come to life.

  19. If you're just joining us now

    It's just past 14:00 in southern China, where Super Typhoon Ragasa is expected to make landfall later today.

    If you're just joining us now, here's a quick look at what's happened over the last few hours:

    • The typhoon had earlier barrelled through Taiwan, where 14 people died and 124 remain missing after a barrier lake burst its banks
    • The equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane, Ragasa is the world's strongest storm this year
    • It has caused chaos across the region, with places like the Philippines and Hong Kong among those affected

    Stay with us as we bring you the latest.

  20. Red alerts and mass evacuations as Guangdong hunkers down

    Laura Bicker
    China correspondent, reporting from Zhuhai

    A man standing on a ladder to tape up a building's large glass doorsGetty Images

    Red alerts have been issued in the mountain regions of Guangdong province for landslides, and authorities are asking people to stay inside if possible.

    Police are patrolling the streets with sirens and megaphones, warning people to stay indoors.

    China's weather experts have said in recent years that typhoons are increasing in intensity - they are calling this one the "king of storms".

    What's evident is China's preparedness for such extreme weather.

    Local neighbourhood watches are going around, telling restaurants to close for the day. People in buildings with more than 10 floors have been evacuated, as well as those in low-lying areas.

    They're very used to this - and it appears they realise that this is something they may have to get used to in the future as the likelihood of such severe storms increases.