Superfed Ragasa, the strongest tropical cyclone in the world this year, hit Hong Kong with high winds and torrential rains on Wednesday, while heavy rainfall in Taiwan resulted in the deaths of 14 people.

A Taiwan Hualien County in Eastern County Hualien has overwhelmed as heavy rainfall from Ragasa hit the island, Taiwan Fire Department said Wednesday.

In Hong Kong, the streets were deserted since Monday as authorities gave people instructions to stay in their homes and rushing waves fell into parts of the eastern and southern coastline of the Asian Financial Center.

“Areas previously protected may be hurt … the sea will have huge waves”said the observatory.

Ragasa, with winds reaching up to 200 km/h, will be closest to the city in the coming hours, about 100 km south of the densely populated area.

Hurricane is expected to maintain its intensity as it moves towards the coast of Guangdong province, China, where more than 125 million people live, and is expected to reach ashore from noon to late Wednesday.

Ragasa swept the northern Philippines on Monday and Taiwan on Tuesday.

Hurricane triggered panic in the markets this week in Hong Kong, with people crowded in supermarkets, leaving a few products on the shelves and in some cases waiting for hours to buy products in fears that stores could close for two days.

As the hurricane approached, the inhabitants tied their windows with a film in the hope of reducing the risk of injury from broken glasses.

Hong Kong issued a sign 10 for hurricane, the highest warning, which calls on businesses and transport services to close.

Authorities also issued the Amber Storm signal, as he was expected to continue heavy rainfall, with some roads already partially flooded, according to the South China Morning Post.

Authorities have warned of the rise in sea level, saying that there could be similar phenomena to those observed during the 2017 Hurricane Hato Hurricane and Hurricane Mangut in 2018, which caused billions of dollars.

“Water level will reach the max reported the observatory.

The government said it had opened 49 temporary shelters in various areas and 727 people have sought refuge in them.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange will remain open. It has changed its policy at the end of last year and continues transactions regardless of time.

Guangdong authorities have removed more than 770,000 people, the state -run television network broadcast CCTV.

At the Macao Gambling Center, next to Hong Kong, authorities also issued the warning signal No. 10 early Wednesday.