Typhoon | Barijat passes with whimper, Mangkhut expected to thunder

After the passage of typhoon Barijat yesterday, which caused no damage or significant disruption to the city’s daily activities, the region is already preparing for another storm –  typhoon Mangkhut – one that has already been classified as a super typhoon and is currently heading toward the South China coast.

According to several weather observatories reports, including the Macau Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) and the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), the storm has a large circulation with intense winds and will pose a considerable threat to the coast of Guangdong.

According to the experts, the super typhoon will enter the South China Sea this Saturday and move quickly towards the coast of Guangdong.  Although there are still uncertainties about its trajectory, it is expected that Mangkhut will bring adverse weather to the regions of Macau, Hong Kong and the coastal cities of southern China.
Presently, the forecasts available predict that the effects of the typhoon will reach their peak in Macau on Sunday, bringing thunderstorms and heavy rain as well as very rough sea conditions.

As it often occurs during these weather conditions, it is expected that the sea level will be elevated and flooding of a certain degree is expected in the low-lying areas of several districts of Macau.

According to a report from weather website AccuWeather, Mangkhut is expected to bring the threat of flooding, rainfall and strong winds from the Philippines and Taiwan into China early next week.

The strengthening cyclone passed by Guam on Monday evening, bringing peak wind gusts of 130 km/h to the island before it reached its current super typhoon status.

“Even further strengthening is expected with Mangkhut as it moves westward toward land,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty, adding, “If sustained wind speeds of 220 km/h are reached, Mangkhut will not only be a super typhoon, but also equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific.”

Weather specialists are closely following the effects of Mangkhut in the northern Philippines region of Luzon as well as in Batanes, the Babuyan Islands, and the southern areas of Taiwan.

On this topic, Philippines disaster agency Executive Director Ricardo Jalad said, “residents in coastal areas must be evacuated by Thursday [today], when heavy rains are expected.”

According to the same official, quoted by Bloomberg, “water level in three dams in northern Luzon are already high and may have to be released as the storm moves westward.”

If it keeps to the forecasted trajectory, the weather experts note that the typhoon “may weaken slightly; however, it is expected to at the very least remain a very powerful typhoon.”

The Social Welfare Bureau president, Vong Yim Mui, speaking on the sidelines on the opening ceremony of the “Hato Education Sponsorship Fund,” said that Macau is prepared for the upcoming typhoon and that all 16 shelters running under the Bureau’s supervision “are already prepared and ready to enter into operation as soon as the government decides.”

According to Vong, the Bureau has some 190 staff ready and trained to face the primary needs of residents in case of a serious typhoon that would require residents to take shelter.

As a precautionary measure, the government has ordered the removal of the decoration materials for the celebration of the mid- autumn festival as well as postponing, until an undisclosed date, the performance display of the teams of France and Portugal in the Macao International Fireworks Contest.