Super Typhoon Ragasa, the strongest storm of 2025, is battering the Philippines with 162 mph winds, mass evacuations, and storm surge warnings.

It may seem like meteorologists use these terms interchangeably, but is there actually a difference between them? And should you worry about one more than another? That may be a trick question: All of those storms are serious,

Ragasa had sustained winds of 134 miles per hour and gusts of up 165 mph as it headed west at 12 mph and the weather agency warned of a "high risk of life-threatening storm surge" of more than 3 meters (around 10 feet.)

The typhoon would make landfall in the coastal area between Shenzhen city and Xuwen county in China's Guangdong province on Wednesday.

A barrier lake in Taiwan's mountainous and sparsely populated east coast county of Hualien burst on Tuesday as the outer edges of Super Typhoon Ragasa pounded the island bringing heavy rainfall, killing 15 people so far in a flood.

A 'super typhoon' named Ragasa is sweeping East Asia, with millions being evacuated from China and Hong Kong seeing its highest possible storm rating of 10. At least 14 people in Taiwan have already been killed by the storm, which is moving swiftly west across the continent.

We are approaching the end of typhoon season in Hong Kong, but that doesn’t mean that things are slowing down. In fact, the city is currently being hit with what is potentially the strongest storm the world has seen this year, Typhoon Ragasa.

Before reaching Hong Kong and mainland China, Super Typhoon Ragasa had ravaged Taiwan and the northern Philippines. Super Typhoon Ragasa leaves mass destruction in its wake, claiming dozens of lives — here's what happens next first appeared on The Cool Down.