Super Typhoon Ragasa is gaining strength as it heads toward the northern Philippines, prompting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to order national agencies into action. On Sunday, Marcos told the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and its 44 member agencies to stay on high alert and support local governments dealing with heavy rains, landslides, and dangerous storm surges from the typhoon, known locally as Super Typhoon Nando.
The Philippine weather agency predicts Nando will slam into the Batanes or Babuyan Islands by afternoon on September 23. Marcos wants everyone ready until the storm leaves the Philippine Area of Responsibility. In the meantime, flight disruptions are already causing headaches—Philippine Airlines has grounded all services to and from the islands until September 23, leaving about 70 tourists stuck. Local officials are teaming up with the Philippine Air Force to arrange possible C-130 rescue flights if commercial options don’t resume.
Evacuations are underway too, with eight centers now sheltering 165 families, or around 497 people, as communities brace for the worst.
Across the sea in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Ragasa at 11 a.m. local time. Experts there warn the typhoon’s winds could whip up to 208.8 kilometers per hour, with its massive storm radius growing even larger. The storm is tracking west through the Bashi Channel toward China’s southern coast, southwest of Macau. Taiwan could feel the biggest punch on Monday and Tuesday, as the storm’s edges brush the Hengchun Peninsula by Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, another powerful storm, Typhoon Neoguri, churned into the northwest Pacific and reached waters near Japan’s easternmost island, Minamitorishima, by noon Sunday. Dubbed Typhoon No. 19 in Japan, it’s moving west-northwest at 20 kph. Forecasters say Neoguri will likely hover over waters east of Japan after Tuesday, keeping a close watch on any shifts.
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