In a devastating turn of events, Typhoon Ragasa — the most powerful tropical cyclone globally this year — made landfall in the southern Chinese city of Yangjiang on Wednesday, after claiming 17 lives in Taiwan and battering Hong Kong with intense winds and torrential rain.

The typhoon was tracking towards Maoming, one of China’s biggest oil refining cities, in Guangdong province.

In Taiwan, 17 people were missing in the eastern Hualien county after a barrier lake overflowed and sent a wall of water into a town, while Ragasa brought Hong Kong to a standstill.

More powerful typhoons are likely to hit southern China due to climate change, said Benjamin Horton, dean of the School of Energy and Environment at the City University of Hong Kong, after a summer of record-breaking rainfall.

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