Super Typhoon Ragasa Batters Northern Philippines, Approaches Taiwan and China

Hundreds of families took shelter in schools and evacuation centers on Monday as Super Typhoon Ragasa — locally named Nando — brought heavy rains and gale-force winds to the northern Philippines and southern Taiwan.

The storm, which is gaining strength as it heads toward southern China, was expected to make landfall over the Philippines’ Babuyan Islands around midday, according to the national weather bureau PAGASA. The sparsely populated islands lie about 740 kilometers (460 miles) south of Taiwan in the Luzon Strait.

As of 8 a.m. (0000 GMT), Ragasa packed maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour and gusts up to 265 kph, PAGASA said.

“We are now experiencing strong winds here in northern Cagayan,” provincial disaster chief Rueli Rapsing told AFP. “Since the super typhoon will traverse Calayan, we are very focused on that area.”

In Taiwan, small-scale evacuations were underway in mountainous areas near Pingtung. “What worries us more is that the damage could be similar to Typhoon Koinu two years ago,” local fire officer James Wu said, recalling a storm that tore down utility poles and ripped off roofs.

Schools and government offices were closed Monday in Metro Manila and 29 provinces in anticipation of severe rainfall. Government forecaster John Grender Almario warned of “severe flooding and landslides” in northern Luzon.

The storm threat comes a day after thousands of Filipinos protested a widening corruption scandal over incomplete and substandard flood-control projects. Initially peaceful, the demonstrations turned violent as clashes with police left more than 70 people arrested.

The Philippines, the first major landmass along the Pacific cyclone belt, is struck by around 20 storms a year, leaving millions vulnerable to repeated disasters. Scientists warn that climate change is intensifying the strength of such typhoons.