HONG KONG — Southern China got battered by two deadly typhoons in one week that shut down the shopping cities of Hong Kong and Macau, and took the lives of at least 22 people.
Typhoon Pakhar reached its peak in the early hours of Sunday morning, killing at least one man in Hong Kong. (Pakhar was less disruptive than Typhoon Hato, however, which hit on Aug. 23, a weekday when schools, offices and shopping malls were forced to close.)
Hato, the stronger of the two recent typhoons, on Tuesday registered a signal 10 warning, the highest category for a tropical storm. It was the first time such severity had been reached since 2012, and at least 10 were reported dead in Macau and 12 more in mainland China from Hato.
Macau bore the brunt of Hato, which cut the city’s water and electricity supply, and left multibillion-dollar casino resorts running on generator power. Public anger over the government’s lack of preparations for such an occurrence forced the city’s chief weather officer to resign.
Relief efforts to clear street debris continue this week, led by soldiers from China’s People’s Liberation Army. It is the first time they have been deployed in the city, which operates as a special administrative region since its handover to China in 1999. Casino firm Melco Resorts also sent 2,000 of its workers to assist in the cleanup, putting together a relief fund of 30 million patacas, or $3.72 million.
