World Reframed 10: Typhoon Ragasa tore across land and sea, China just moved people out of its way

If you live in the Philippines, Taiwan or the south of China, you haven't just been experiencing bad weather over recent days. It's been deadly weather. But the passage of one of the most powerful storms of recent years serves as a reminder of human ingenuity and adaptability.

Super Typhoon Ragasa has struck one of the world’s most populated regions. It has left destruction in its path and tragically taken more than a dozen lives. Yet perhaps the biggest surprise is that the damage wasn’t worse. Here’s why.

What is a typhoon?

Typhoon, cyclone, hurricane – these words all describe the same phenomenon. The difference lies in geography and language. In the northwest Pacific Ocean, it’s a typhoon. In the Indian Ocean or southern hemisphere, it’s a cyclone. Along the US coasts, it’s a hurricane.

All are giant storms formed when warm ocean water evaporates and rises, pulling in surrounding air. As the Earth rotates, the Coriolis effect causes this system to spin. These storms can stretch 1,000 kilometres across. In the northern hemisphere they rotate counterclockwise; in the southern, clockwise.

Contrary to myth, the Coriolis effect doesn’t dictate how water swirls down your sink—but it does govern the spin of these colossal storms.

When does a typhoon become 'super'?

Different regions measure storm strength in different ways. In the US, hurricanes are ranked from Category 1 (winds of 119 km/h) to Category 5 (over 252 km/h—the speed of a Formula 1 car).

In the Pacific, storms graduate from tropical storms (below 88 km/h) to typhoons (above 118 km/h). A super typhoon is the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane, with winds over 240 km/h. That’s exactly what Ragasa became.

Many names

Naming storms helps authorities communicate more clearly and makes them more relatable as real threats. But names differ from place to place.

• Ragasa was chosen from a UN Typhoon Committee list to be used internationally. It means “roar” or a loud rushing noise in Filipino.
• The Philippines also has its own system, cycling through alphabetical names every four years. Under that list, the same storm became Nando—short for Fernando, chosen simply because it’s easy to remember.
• In Japan, it’s known as Typhoon Number 18, since storms are numbered sequentially from the start of the year.

So one storm can have multiple names, depending on where you are.

Tracking Ragasa

Ragasa was first identified on September 17, upgraded to a tropical storm the next day, then almost immediately into a typhoon and super typhoon. On September 21, it struck Panuitan Island in the northern Philippines before moving towards southern China.

The storm’s toll included three deaths in the Philippines and fourteen in Taiwan, where a lake overflowed.

China’s Massive Evacuation Effort

The storm then struck Guangdong province, one of the most densely populated regions on Earth. The area includes:

• Hong Kong (7.5 million people)
• Macau
• Shenzhen (18 million)
• Jiangmen (just under 5 million)

Incredibly, nearly two million people were evacuated in a matter of days. That’s the equivalent of relocating the entire population of Vienna, Caracas, or Algiers almost overnight.

China managed this through a mix of extensive public services, door-to-door communication, robust transport networks, and a population that generally follows evacuation orders. This avoided the chaos often seen when people wait until the last minute to flee.

One community worker explained:

"At the early stages, we encouraged residents to make basic preparations, such as getting ready for evacuation, reinforcing doors and windows, and securing any loose items on their balconies."

And his example was followed by thousands of others visiting home after home.

For those without safe homes or relatives to shelter them, public facilities were converted into emergency shelters. In Shenzhen, some evacuees found themselves in school halls—simple accommodation with shared toilets, breakfast included, but little privacy or comfort. While Chinese media tends to highlight only the positive side of these operations, the sheer scale of the effort—2 million people relocated in days—remains extraordinary.

When Systems Work

Nature unleashed its full force: winds as fast as Formula 1 cars, storm surges, and rainfall measured in months delivered in hours. For those caught in floods in Taiwan and the Philippines, the results were deadly. Yet in the mega-cities of southern China, human systems held.

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World Reframed is produced in London by Global South World, part of the Impactum Group. Its editors are Duncan Hooper and Ismail Akwei.

ISSN 2978-4891