CEM cuts power supply to protect electricity infrastructure

Macau Daily Times is receiving reports of power blackouts in the Inner Harbor and San Ma Lou area, where street flooding has reached 1.64 meters in some parts and is expected to rise. CEM, the public electricity company, says that it purposefully cut the power supply to parts of the city which have been affected by the flooding so as not to endanger the power units in those areas.

That comes after the Macau Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) escalated the storm surge warning from red to black, the most severe level issued by the Bureau.

Last night the government suggested that flooding in low-lying parts of Macau might reach depths of between 1.5 and 2.5 meters.

The civil protection authority (COPC) has sounded sirens on the peninsula again, alerting residents to the new storm surge warning and calling for anyone still in low-lying areas to seek higher ground immediately.

The COPC has issued a statement condemning the “circulation of rumors about alleged serious shortcomings in the water and power supply.”

The authority said that it “condemns these acts vehemently and appeals to the public not to believe or to spread such rumors.”

As of 4:00 p.m. Mangkhut is located about 60 kilometers southwest of Macau and due to continue moving toward the Guangdong Province coast west of the MSAR. Strong winds and rain are likely to prevail for the rest of the day.