Huge tropical storms swept through Macau and southern China, damaging casino resorts as well as homes and other businesses in the region. Typhoon Hato caused officials in Hong Kong to issue the 10th alert for the first time in five years. The storm reportedly had winds of more than 124 mph. Around noon in Macau, the area was flooded with many resorts affected by water and power outages.
The Macau government said it is the strongest typhoon recorded in Macau in the past 53 years. Local news updates say between 12 and 16 people have died since reports began coming in on Wednesday. 153 people were injured due to the situation caused by the typhoon.
As of this morning, the typhoon is still affecting the operation of casino resorts in Macau as well as public transportation. The casino facility in Cotai has limited water supply, but electricity was cut off last night. According to local media, some Macau Peninsula casino hotels have limited power supply as of this morning.
Due to water and power problems, many casino properties were preparing for existing guests, and new guests were not receiving them. Macau’s government says it is working to ensure water services are restored and electricity is resumed as soon as possible.
Public transportation continued to be problematic until this morning, the number of buses in operation has decreased, and many roads are still inaccessible due to debris or trees collapsed by the typhoon. There have been several traffic jams around Macau, and it is taking some time to complete the cleaning work.
Yesterday, the border between mainland China and Macau was closed for a while due to power problems, and normal traffic resumed as of this morning, and ferry services between Hong Kong and Macau resumed, but the number of flights was limited.
Weather conditions halted flights Wednesday and Macau International Airport said facilities were gradually resuming. In Hong Kong, more than 450 flights were canceled yesterday due to Typhoon Hato.
Social media has allowed an internal investigation into the problems casino resorts are facing due to the storm. Several casino resorts in the area were damaged. Photos of the damage are circulating online, including wood debris from the Galaxy Macao, as well as windows at the City of Dreams venue.
Macau game operator Melco Resorts said their building has minimal external damage that will be repaired over the next few days. Altira had power issues, so guests were relocated to a building in Cotai.