Super Typhoon Ragasa whipped up strong winds, heavy rains and landslides in the northern Philippines today and prompted mass evacuations, school closures and hundreds of flight cancellations across the region as it bore down on Hong Kong and mainland China.

Ragasa briefly reached sustained wind speeds of 165 mph, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Hawaii, making it the most powerful storm in the world so far this year, stronger than Hurricane Erin in the Atlantic, which reached 160 mph.

The Philippines’ meteorological agency said Typhoon Ragasa had made landfall in the remote northern tip of Luzon, the country’s heavily populated northern island and home of the capital, Manila. The state weather bureau said it had caused heavy rains as well as landslides in many areas in th

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