After making its way through the Philippines, Super Typhoon Ragasa is hurtling towards southern China, where authorities are bracing for landfall by one of the strongest storms in years.
In the Philippines, disaster response officials said floods and landslides triggered by Ragasa killed at least three people and left five missing.
In southern China and Hong Kong, authorities shut down schools and businesses as they prepared for the super typhoon to make landfall.
Ragasa is expected to remain in the South China Sea at least into Wednesday, passing south of Taiwan and Hong Kong before making landfall on the Chinese mainland.
China’s National Meteorological Centre said the typhoon would make landfall in the coastal region between Zhuhai and Zhanjiang cities in Guangdong province between midday and evening on Wednesday.
People were seen wading through flooded roads in the Pampanga and Cagayan province in the Philippines where gale force winds also toppled trees and electric poles.
The typhoon also triggered landslides that damaged houses and roads.
Ragasa, the strongest storm this year, was packing maximum sustained winds near the centre of about 137mph, Hong Kong’s observatory said, adding that it was expected to move west-northwest at about 14mph across South China Sea’s northern part.
The typhoon’s expected path takes it towards the coast of Guangdong province, an economic powerhouse in southern China.
Footage from areas hit by the storm show residents taking preventive measures by putting sandbags and barriers at their doors and taping windows and glass doors to lessen its winds.
In Hong Kong, hundreds of flights were cancelled as Shenzhen airport authorities said they would halt all flights from Tuesday night, when the storm was likely to intensify in the region.
Macao evacuated residents and tourists in several areas and closed bridges on Tuesday, anticipating Ragasa to pass within 62 miles to the south of the city on Wednesday morning.
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