Typhoon Ragasa takes aim at China after leaving 14 dead in Taiwan, lashing Hong Kong

(Reuters)

HONG KONG/SHENZHEN, China, Sept 24 – Typhoon Ragasa, the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year, barreled towards tens of millions of people in southern China on Wednesday after killing 14 people in Taiwan, leaving scores missing and lashing Hong Kong with ferocious winds and heavy rains.

Some 129 people are missing in Taiwan’s eastern Hualien county, after a barrier lake overflowed and sent a wall of water into a town, the Taiwan fire department said on Wednesday, with Ragasa’s outer rim having drenched the island since Monday.

Many residents in the tourist town of Guangfu complained there was insufficient warning from Taiwan authorities, who are used to moving people out of potential danger zones swiftly on the island which is frequently hit by typhoons.

As rains inundated Taiwan, Hong Kong grappled with huge waves that crashed over areas of the Asian financial hub’s eastern and southern shoreline, breaking into white-water streams as they rushed along pavements and submerged some roads alongside residential properties.

At the Fullerton hotel on the island’s south, videos on social media showed a torrent of seawater surging through its glass doors before flooding the floor area. Calls to the property remained unanswered on Wednesday.