400,000 Evacuate As World’s Deadliest Cat 5 Super Typhoon Reaches ‘Limits Of Earth’s Power’
In Shenzhen, China, authorities told 400,000 people they needed to leave their homes before Super Typhoon Ragasa arrived, making it one of China's largest evacuations recently.
They opened emergency shelters across Guangdong province as the storm approached on Tuesday. The winds were up to about 167 mph, the fastest on Earth this year. Forecasters warned that storm surges could be more than three meters high, threatening anyone living by the sea.
Local officials quickly moved people from flood zones and coastal regions to safety, marking a significant emergency response for one of China's biggest cities and surrounding areas.
Ragasa's winds were so strong that meteorologists said they were reaching the limits of Earth's atmosphere for tropical storms.
MIT scientists say the strongest possible hurricane or typhoon on Earth is about 200 mph, and Ragasa wasn't far from that, with sustained winds at 167 mph and gusts near 183 mph.
The storm's central air pressure dropped to 905 hectopascals, a clear sign of a robust system.
As it moved over the South China Sea, weather experts kept warning that Ragasa could remain extremely dangerous as it headed straight for the coasts of southern China and Hong Kong.
