Typhoon Ragasa , the world’s strongest cyclone of the year, surged toward southern China on Wednesday, after killing 14 in Taiwan, leaving dozens missing, and battering Hong Kong with fierce winds and heavy rain.

Some 129 people are missing in Taiwan’s eastern Hualien county, after a barrier lake overflowed and sent a wall of water into a town, the Taiwan fire department said on Wednesday, with Ragasa’s outer rim having drenched the island since Monday.

Many residents in the tourist town of Guangfu complained there was insufficient warning from Taiwan authorities, who are used to moving people out of potential danger zones swiftly on the island, which is frequently hit by typhoons.

As rains inundated Taiwan, Hong Kong grappled with huge waves that crashed over areas of the Asian fina

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