Macao raised the alert level from 3 to 8 this Friday, the third highest, and declared a state of immediate prevention, when super typhoon Saola is just over 200 kilometers from the territory.
A flood advisory was also issued, with particular concern for the low-lying areas of the city. For now, the warning will be orange, but with the “moderate to relatively high” possibility of changing to red, the second highest warning and in which the water level is expected to reach values greater than 2.5 meters above sea level. pavement.
The public transport service was suspended, as well as road traffic on the bridges, with the exception of the lower section of the Sai Van Bridge.
The authorities announced the closure of parking lots, postponed the return to school scheduled for today and canceled a hundred flights at the Macao international airport.
The Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Services (SMG) continues to admit the possibility of issuing the highest alert level, signal 10.
The SMG website lists the probability of signal 9 airing tonight or Saturday morning as “moderate to relatively high”, and the possibility of it rising to signal 10 on Sunday morning. .
The authorities also reported the suspension of the operation of most public services and the opening of four emergency reception centers.
As soon as the orange or higher flood alert is issued, “the 17 emergency reception centers scattered throughout the city will open,” the government said.
The Consulate General of Portugal in Macao and Hong Kong also announced the temporary closure, until the alert level drops to level 3.
“Users with an appointment for today afternoon will receive rescheduling notifications as soon as possible. Users with a special urgency must indicate it by sending a message to [email protected] or by messaging from their Facebook account” of the consulate, reported in the social network Facebook.
A high alert has been issued in mainland China. Guangdong province, neighboring Macao and Hong Kong, issued a maximum level wind warning. China’s Ministry of Transport has sent 16 rescue boats and nine rescue helicopters to areas likely to be affected by Saola, according to the state news agency Xinhua.
The special administrative region of Hong Kong, which has already issued signal 8 and admits raising the alert to the maximum late in the afternoon, closed schools and public services, something that also happened in the neighboring city of Shenzhen, in Guangdong.
The tropical storm warning scale is made up of signals 1, 3, 8, 9 and 10, whose emission depends on the proximity of the storm and the intensity of the wind.
Flood warnings have five levels: blue, yellow, orange, red, and black.
In September 2018, Typhoon Mangkhut caused 40 injuries and severe flooding in the territory. A year earlier, Hato caused 10 deaths and 240 injuries.
Source: TSF
