Macau and Hong Kong were hit by Typhoon Wipha this Sunday, with a Signal 10 effect for four and a half hours during the day and disrupting the two cities main border checkpoints and flights.
Macau’s weather authorities downgraded the typhoon warning signal from the highest level No. 10 to No. 8 at 5:00PM on Sunday as Typhoon Wipha began to move away from the region.
The three border checkpoints linking Macau and Zhuhai resumed operations as the storm subsided.
The typhoon caused significant disruptions in travel across Hong Kong and southern China, leading to widespread flight cancellations and prompting residents to seek shelter from strong winds and heavy rain. Macau International Airport reported that 138 flights had been canceled and 12 rescheduled due to the approaching storm.
Initially a tropical storm, Wipha was declared a typhoon overnight and brought heavy squally showers, high sea swells, and maximum sustained winds of 62 mph to Hong Kong by Sunday afternoon, as reported by the territory’s Weather Observatory.
By early evening, China’s meteorological agency indicated that Wipha had made landfall in southern Guangdong province, weakening as it continued westward. However, Hong Kong’s Weather Observatory warned residents to remain alert for potential aftereffects, including gale-force southeasterly winds and high sea swells.
Reports from Hong Kong indicated that 253 individuals sought refuge in government shelters, while 26 went to public hospitals for medical treatment related to the storm. The South China Morning Post noted 471 reports of fallen trees, with images showing damage, including one tree that crushed a car.
