Super typhoon Ragasa lashes Hong Kong, prompts top alert

HONG KONG -- The Hong Kong Observatory issued the hurricane signal No 10, the top level warning, at 2:40 am local time on Wednesday as super typhoon Ragasa whirls by.

This was the second time the highest alert was activated this year after typhoon Wipha passed by on July 10. Hong Kong has not repeated the No. 10 signal in one year since 1964.

Ragasa lashed Hong Kong with torrential rains and winds with speeds of 118 km per hour or more. Amid Ragasa's rampage, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government had received 169 reports of snapped trees and one report of mudslide by 8 am on Wednesday. Public hospitals received 19 patients for typhoon-related injuries.

By 8 am, 49 emergency shelters set up across Hong Kong had housed 747 occupants.

The Hong Kong Observatory said that Ragasa appeared 130 km south by southwest of Hong Kong at 9 am Wednesday, and is expected to press ahead westward at a speed of 22 km per hour toward Guangdong province.