Red Storm surge warning into force, no reports of flooding

Local authorities have raised the warning level regarding Storm surge from Orange to Red at 6 p.m. local time. The warning, the fourth of a five-level scheme, indicates that the water level is expected to reach 1.5 to 2.5 meters above road level.

Such a warning aims to increase the attentiveness of people in the low-lying areas to the need to evacuate from their homes at any moment as Super Typhoon Ragasa continues to approach the city, although, for the time being, authorities did not record any flooding occurrence.

The Red Storm surge warning also indicates, to those living in those areas, that the local power supply company, CEM, might enforce power outages to prevent further damage related to short-circuiting caused by flooding.

At 8 p.m., the typhoon was located around 320 kilometers east-southeast of Macau and moving West-northwest at around 20km/h towards the western coast of the Pearl River Estuary.

The Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) have said that wind would start to significantly strengthen tonight and would be accompanied by more frequent showers and thunderstorms.

According to the Civil Protection Operations Centre (COPC), there has only one report of incident related to the removal of some object, signboards, or canopies, or similar objects in risk of falling.

In addition, the authorities announced that during the day, 88 flights have been cancelled at the Macau International Airport, to which add two other flight delays and six have been rescheduled.

The Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) has stated that the Academy of Public Security Forces Emergency Shelter is nearing full capacity and is recommending people in need to go to nearby former Flying Eagle Training Base in Coloane instead.

The emergency shelters accommodated a total of 544 people as of 8 p.m. local time since their opening, while 501 are still at these shelters.