At least three people were killed in the Philippines after a tropical storm, which intensified into a typhoon before hitting land late on Thursday (September 25, 2025), swept across central islands and southern Luzon, days after a super typhoon struck the north.

Government work and classes in many parts of the country, including in Metro Manila, were suspended ahead of Tropical Storm Bualoi. It struck just a few days after Super Typhoon Ragasa left a trail of damage in the northern Philippines, killing 14 people before wreaking havoc in Taiwan, where at least 15 people died.

The latest storm made landfall in Eastern Samar in central Philippines before crossing into Masbate and sweeping through the Bicol region in southern Luzon.

Disaster officials said the three fatalities were in Masbate province. One was hit by a falling tree, another drowned, while the third was killed when a wall collapsed.

Masbate Governor Antonio Kho, in a media briefing, appealed for immediate assistance from the central government, citing the urgent need to clear debris, restore power and reopen ports to allow the delivery of aid.

In other parts of Southern Luzon, local officials reported heavy rains and winds, power outages, and damage to crops and infrastructure.

Ahead of Bualoi, named Opong locally, hundreds of thousands of people were pre-emptively evacuated, including Manila resident J.C. Borromeo, who was staying in an evacuation centre with his three children.

“We live just by the corner of the river, and it would be difficult when the water rises,” he said while carrying his baby.

Bualoi, packing maximum wind speeds of 110 kmph and gusts rising to 135 kmph, is forecast to intensify into a typhoon again as it moves toward Vietnam.

The Vietnamese government said the fast-moving storm would hit the country’s northern and central coast on Monday (September 29, 2025), triggering torrential rains from September 28 to September 30.

“Heavy rains could cause serious flooding in low-lying areas, as well as urban and industrial areas,” the national weather agency said in a statement on Friday (September 26, 2025).

Rainfall in several parts could reach 150 mm within the next 24 hours, according to the agency.

Hong Kong resumed flights out of its international airport on Thursday (September 25, 2025) after a 36-hour suspension, reopening businesses, transportation services and some schools after the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year lashed the financial hub.

Ragasa brought the densely populated city to a standstill from Tuesday afternoon, after sweeping through the northern Philippines and Taiwan where it killed 14, before making landfall on the southern Chinese city of Yangjiang on Wednesday.

More than 100 people were injured in Hong Kong, where authorities imposed the highest typhoon signal 10 for most of Wednesday.

On Thursday, the observatory maintained its second-lowest typhoon signal 3, keeping kindergartens and some schools shut as Ragasa moved away from the city and weakened into a tropical storm.

Huge waves crashed over areas of Hong Kong’s eastern and southern shoreline on Wednesday, with widespread flooding submerging some roads and residential properties.

Seawater surged through the Fullerton hotel on the island’s south, shattering glass doors and inundating the lobby. No injuries were reported and the hotel said services were operating as normal.

Hong Kong’s Airport Authority said airlines would gradually resume flights starting from 6 a.m. (1000 GMT) on Thursday, with all three runways operating simultaneously. “It is anticipated that flights will be scheduled until late into late night tomorrow, handling over 1,000 flights at the normal level,” it said, adding that it expected airport operations to be busy on Thursday and Friday.

Authorities said they were urgently repairing collapsed roads, trying to clear more than 1,000 fallen trees and respond to around 85 cases of flooding.

Prior to Ragasa’s arrival, authorities handed out sandbags on Monday for residents to bolster their homes in low-lying areas, while many people stockpiled daily necessities, leading to bare supermarket shelves and surging fresh vegetable prices.

At least 14 people were killed when a decades-old lake barrier burst in Taiwan, a government official said Wednesday (September 24, 2025), after Super Typhoon Ragasa pounded the island with torrential rain.

The barrier lake in eastern Hualien County burst Tuesday (September 23, 2025), washing away a bridge and sweeping into a town with a trail of thick sludge and mud.

“It was like a volcano erupting…. the muddy floodwaters came roaring straight into the first floor of my house,” Hsu Cheng-hsiung, 55, a neighbourhood leader of Kuang Fu township, told AFP.

Lee Kuan-ting, a Hualien County Government press official, said 14 people were killed and 18 injured.

The National Fire Agency said 124 people were missing.

“It was a disaster movie,” a local resident Yen Shau, 31, told AFP. He said an hour before the lake burst, many people were still at the local supermarket and grocery store. “Within minutes, the water had risen to halfway up the first floor,” he said.

He said he couldn’t sleep Tuesday (September 23, 2025) night for fear of another deluge from the lake, and on Wednesday (September 24, 2025) was shovelling mud from his home. “The mud was just too deep, too deep to dig out,” he added.

Footage released by the fire agency showed flooded streets, half-submerged cars and uprooted trees.

Across Taiwan, more than 7,600 people were evacuated due to Typhoon Ragasa.

Taiwan experiences frequent tropical storms from July to October.

Typhoon Danas, which hit the island in early July, killed two people and injured hundreds as the storm dumped more than 50 cm of rain across the south over a weekend.

Super Typhoon Ragasa, the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year, lashed Hong Kong with hurricane-force winds and torrential rain on Wednesday (September 24, 2025) as the city shut down and more than 700 flights were cancelled.

The typhoon sparked panic buying this week, with people piling into supermarkets, leaving little on the shelves and in some cases queuing for hours to purchase goods amid fears that shops could be closed for two days.

As the typhoon approached, residents across the city taped their windows in the hope of minisiming any danger from shattered glass.

Packing hurricane-force winds of up to 200 kph (124 mph), Ragasa will be closest to Hong Kong early Wednesday morning, skirting around 100 km to the south of the territory.

Hong Kong issued the typhoon signal 10, its highest, late on Tuesday, which urges most businesses and transport services to shut down.

“Seas will be phenomenal with swells. There will be overtopping waves over the shoreline, which will be particularly significant along the eastern and southern coasts,” the observatory said.

Authorities have warned of rising sea levels, saying they could be similar to those seen during Typhoon Hato in 2017 and Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018, both of which caused billions of dollars in damage.

The observatory said water levels have started to rise due to a significant storm surge and will reach a maximum of around four metres (13 feet) around noon (0400 GMT).

The financial hub has already opened 49 temporary shelters in various districts and 727 people have sought refuge at the shelters.

Hong Kong’s Stock Exchange will remain open. It changed its policy late last year to continue trading whatever the weather. Ragasa will maintain super typhoon intensity as it edges closer to the coast of Guangdong, mainland China and Taiwan, after sweeping through the northern Philippines on Monday. It is expected to make landfall along Guangdong’s coast from midday to late Wednesday.

Guangdong authorities evacuated over 770,000 people, state broadcaster CCTV said. In the gambling hub of Macau next to Hong Kong, authorities issued the No. 10 warning signal at 5.30 a.m.