Macau has been spared from severe damage, injuries, and casualties during the overnight passage of typhoon Higos. Although many incidents were reported and account for some property damage, the category 10 typhoon found Macau otherwise well prepared.
According to the Civil Protection Operations Centre (COPC), until 11:45 a.m. yesterday, 274 incidents related to the passing of the typhoon had been recorded, the large majority (138) related to the imminent danger of falling concrete from buildings, as well as advertising signs and boards, windows, canopies and other hanging objects falling.
The COPC also reported of a total of 61 items falling, including construction materials, street lamps, trees, 16 scaffolding structures, cranes, and other structures related to construction sites, among other minor incidents.
A large number of vehicles have also been affected, although no figure has been disclosed at this point.
In a short tour around Macau, the Times observed that a large number of motorcycles parked in street parking areas have fallen under the strength of the winds.
Several fences, banners, and billboards have also been damaged and debris consisting of metal pieces, shattered glass, and personal objects could be found on the streets of Macau.
The COPC was in operation for a total period of 15 hours starting from 8:30 p.m. on August 18, when the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) raised the storm surge warning level from “yellow” to “orange,” forecasting the occurrence of flooding in low-lying areas of the city of up to 1.5 meters.
According to a report from the Unitary Police Services (SPU), the operational team responsible for the evacuation of residents living in areas most at risk of flooding, evacuated a total of 3,338 homes and 2,722 residents from such areas to safe locations.
The SPU also noted that a total of 192 people requested help and were lodged in the 17 emergency shelters. Of those, 93 were local residents, 80 were tourists from the mainland, three tourists from Hong Kong and 16 tourists from other undisclosed places.
The Health Bureau has also reported attending to 15 people with injuries caused by the tropical storm. From those, three cases were considered medium level injuries and 12 minor injuries. None of the cases is considered to pose any life-threatening risk to the people.
Typhoon signals of 8 or higher were in place for a period of exactly 12 hours from 11:30 p.m. on August 18 until 11:30 a.m. on August 19, when the SMG lowered the warning signal to level 3, giving way to the resumption of the city’s normal activities.
According to the weather authority, the typhoon made landfall on the western side of neighboring Zhuhai, near the Chinese city’s airport, at around 6 a.m. yesterday morning.
Meanwhile, several transportation-related measures were adopted during the passage of typhoon, as per the city’s standard response to such weather events.
The three bridges connecting Macau and Taipa, and the Lotus Bridge, which links Macau to Hengqin, were closed at 1 a.m. on August 19.
The lower deck of the Sai Van Bridge opened to the public half an hour earlier at 12:30 a.m. However, with the hoisting of typhoon signal 9 (at 2:30 a.m.) and the high possibility of the signal 10 being raised (which occurred at 5 a.m.), the lower deck of the bridge was closed, suspending any connection between the peninsula and Taipa Island.
The three bridges reopened to traffic at 11:30 a.m. on August 19 after the replacement of the typhoon signal 8 with signal 3, at which time the public buses also resumed operation.
Air traffic registered less disruption than normal. With the large majority of air traffic suspended due to the restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, the passage of Higos caused one flight delay, and eight flight cancellations, which will be rescheduled as soon as possible, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.
As for passengers traveling through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and new Hengqin Island border posts, the operation of such immigration checkpoints was suspended on August 19, at 12:00 a.m. and 12:40 a.m., respectively.
Due to the adverse weather, the land border posts between Macau and Zhuhai remained closed at 6 a.m.. The border posts of the Border Gate and the Trans-border Industrial Park, at Ilha Verde, reopened at 10 a.m.
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