Southern China cleans up after lashing from Super Typhoon Ragasa

Ragasa made landfall at Yangjiang, in western Guangdong, at around 5pm on Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and strong winds that caused flooding and disrupted transport in cities across the province.

Despite the storm’s record strength – it became the world’s strongest typhoon so far this year with sustained wind speeds of up to 265km/h (165mph) on Monday – there were no reports of typhoon-related casualties in Guangdong by Thursday afternoon.

Provincial officials said damage assessments were continuing and the priority was to restore essential city services and infrastructure.

The remains of an industrial estate in Yangjiang hit by of Super Typhoon Ragasa. Photo: AFP

Some Yangjiang residents said their electricity and water supplies were severed, but the services had resumed in most areas by Thursday, according to local media reports.

The storm also brought down more than 50,000 trees in the city and videos circulating online showed that some streets and restaurants in Yangjiang were still flooded on Thursday.

South China Morning Post