Typhoon Hato has left at least three dead and two missing in Macau, after widespread flooding led to a territory-wide power outage and significant damage to property.
The fatalities included a 62-year old local man who fell from a height, a 45-year old male tourist from the mainland who was accidentally run over by a heavy vehicle, and a 30-year old local man who was knocked into a wall by strong wind. He was pronounced dead after being sent to hospital.
Earlier in the day, four individuals were declared missing near Patane North Bay. Of the four, two have been rescued and two remain unaccounted for.
At noon, a fishing boat parked in the Macau Peninsula was sunk by the typhoon. The Macau government is following up on the incident.
Power outage
At 11am, parts of the city suffered from a power outage due to the flooding of power supply equipment, according to the Companhia de Electricidade de Macau (CEM). The outage later extended throughout the territory.
he works at The Wynn in Macau, so luckily he is in a sturdy and safe location. Hoping for safety and assistance to those suffering rn! pic.twitter.com/T0sORP1O3y
— Katie Jayne Earl (@KatieMowgli) August 23, 2017
“At 12:24 today, failure of the power supply cable from Zhuhai to Macau led to blackout throughout Macau. CEM started all local power generators immediately. Electricity is restoring gradually. As the power supply is still limited, for the customers who have power restored, please limit the usage,” said CEM.
Macao Post said that the power cut had affected mobile telecommunications operators to varying degrees. It said that telephone, broadband, and TV services had been affected and that it was working to ensure that normal services would resume as soon as possible.
See more: LIVE: Typhoon Hato moves inland after battering Hong Kong
Typhoon #Hato has made landfall over #Macau to the west of #HongKong. pic.twitter.com/Ytrv2ZEfao
— Met Office Storms (@metofficestorms) August 23, 2017
The Macau Public Security Police Force reopened the border gate checkpoint at Praça das Portas do Cerco and the Zhuhai-Macao Cross-border Industrial Zone border checkpoint at 3:30pm. However, it warned that, due to crowding, citizens and tourists should avoid travelling to immigration, and that citizens currently at the scene should follow officers’ instructions in proceeding through the checkpoints. Other border offices have not been re-opened.
According to the government, as of 4:22pm, there have been:
- 20 reported incidents of cement peeling and fallen objects;
- 35 reported incidents of advertising signs, canopies, iron sheets/poles, and windows on the verge of collapse or already collapsed;
- 6 reported incidents of scaffolding on the verge of collapse or already collapsed;
- 38 reported incidents of fallen antennae or trees;
- 16 incidents of people being trapped in elevators; and
- Continuous flooding along the inner harbour, Ilha Verde, and other areas.
See more: T10 storm: Hong Kong grinds to a halt as Typhoon Hato rips through the city
As of 5pm, ten roads on the Macau Peninsula and three roads on Taipa have been re-opened to limited traffic. The government said that the typhoon had affected a large number of traffic lights, and that regular road services would be suspended as a result. It urged road users to follow police officers’ directions while driving and warned users against cutting in line in order to to avoid traffic accidents.
The Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau plans to replace the storm signal T8 with the signal T3 at 6:30pm.
