A wall of water burst through the glass doors of a luxury Hong Kong hotel as Super Typhoon Ragasa — dubbed the “King of Storms” — battered the city, sending guests and staff scrambling for safety.
Footage from the Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel in Aberdeen captured the moment murky floodwaters smashed through reinforced doors, sweeping people off their feet. One man clinging to a panda-themed cardboard display was knocked down before another guest pulled him to safety. Despite sandbags and barriers, local media reported that massive waves breached the hotel’s defenses.
The hotel later said the safety of guests and staff remained its “top priority.”
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Deadly path through Asia
Ragasa has cut a devastating path across the region, killing at least 14 people in Taiwan and leaving more than 100 injured across the island and in Hong Kong. Authorities revised Taiwan’s earlier death toll down from 17 after duplicate reports, but dozens remain unaccounted for. More than 7,600 people were evacuated, with around 1,200 still sheltering in emergency centers.
In eastern Taiwan, the collapse of a decades-old barrier lake in Hualien County triggered deadly flooding. “Comfortable or not … being safe is enough,” said church elder Kaniw Looh, 64, as displaced families prepared for a second night in shelters.
The storm also pounded the northern Philippines earlier this week, where at least eight people — including seven fishermen — lost their lives.
Landfall in China
Ragasa roared into Guangdong province on Wednesday with sustained winds of up to 270 km/h, making it the strongest storm of 2025 so far and the equivalent of a Category 5 cyclone under Australia’s rating system. At landfall near Yangjiang city, AFP reporters described flying debris, advertisements torn from buildings, and deserted train stations as transport across Guangdong ground to a halt.
Nearly 2.2 million people were relocated, and authorities closed schools and businesses across at least 10 cities. Beijing has earmarked about $49 million in relief funds to support rescue and recovery efforts.
Hong Kong battered
Hong Kong endured hours of punishing winds and torrential rain as Ragasa swept past earlier in the day. The city’s weather bureau classified it as the most powerful storm of the year in the northwestern Pacific.
Ninety people were treated for storm-related injuries, while more than 860 sought refuge in temporary shelters. Hundreds of trees were uprooted, floodwaters inundated neighborhoods, and the storm surge swamped the Heng Fa Chuen residential estate.
“It’s like the end of the world … I never expected to see it as bad as this,” said Paul Yendle, an IT manager surveying wreckage near a damaged restaurant.
At Hong Kong International Airport, hundreds of flights were cancelled, leaving the terminals eerily quiet. In Chai Wan, a five-year-old boy and his mother were swept into the sea while watching waves; the child was rescued, but his mother remains in critical condition.
Nearby Macau also saw widespread flooding, with power cut to low-lying areas as a precaution.
A storm fueled by warming seas
Scientists warn that Ragasa is part of a troubling trend: climate change is making typhoons and cyclones more frequent and more powerful. With winds topping 145 km/h at landfall in southern China and peak gusts of 270 km/h at sea, Ragasa has underscored the growing threat facing coastal communities across Asia.