TAIPEI – The most powerful typhoon of the year swept through the Luzon Strait separating the Philippines and Taiwan on Saturday, battering island communities and dumping rain as it eyes landfall in Hong Kong.

Typhoon Usagi had maximum sustained winds of 222 kph and gusts exceeding 260 kph Saturday morning, and was 550 km south of Taipei, according to the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center. A storm achieves super typhoon status when winds reach 240 kph.

Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said later Saturday that Usagi was veering west, likely sparing southern Taiwan from the most destructive winds near its eye.

But gusts exceeding 230 kph were recorded on the Taiwan island of Lanyu, and the bureau warned that dangerous winds were buffeting the holiday resort of Kending on the Hengchun Peninsula as the storm made its closest approach to the area.

In the Philippines, Usagi triggered landslides and power outages in parts of the north of the country, including the Batanes island group where it made landfall early Saturday. No casualties were reported.

The government’s weather bureau warned that storm surges and heavy waves could cause damage in the Batanes and other islands in the Luzon Strait before blowing past the Philippines on Saturday night.

China’s National Meteorological Center announced a red alert, the highest level, as the storm maintained its track toward Hong Kong and the manufacturing heartland of the Pearl River Delta. The observatory warned Usagi would impact coastal areas of Guangdong, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces.

The U.S. Navy’s warning center predicted that Usagi will approach Hong Kong with weaker but dangerous sustained winds of 176 kph early Monday morning, while the Hong Kong Observatory hoisted the No. 1 Standby Signal and warned the storm poses a “severe threat” to the city.

In Taiwan, nearly 2,500 people were evacuated from flood-prone areas and remote mountainous regions as the government deployed military personnel into potential disaster zones. The storm system dumped more than 20 cm of rain along the eastern and southern coasts in a 13-hour period, with officials warning that a total rainfall of 100 cm could drop before the storm leaves Sunday.

Local officials closed mountain highways blocked by landslides and suspended train services connecting the east and west coasts as power outages affected thousands of homes.

Usagi retains a massive diameter of 1,100 km, with its outer rain bands extending across the main northern Philippine island of Luzon and all of Taiwan across to the Chinese coast. Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau warned winds of 100 kph could hit Taipei.

The Office of Civil Defense in Manila said landslides damaged houses and roads, and pockets of power outages were reported in at least five northern provinces, where several roads and bridges were impassable.

Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair said flights Saturday were unaffected except for one cancelation, but both carriers warned of delays and canceled services at Hong Kong International Airport from Sunday evening through Monday morning, and urged passengers to postpone nonessential travel on those days.