In what could be viewed as a dry run of Macau’s response to deadly storms, three smaller gambling venues were briefly shut down as Typhoon Wipha looked to be approaching the city. The slot parlors were given approval by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ, for its Portuguese acronym) to halt operations, but were later allowed to reopen when Wipha ran out of steam.
On Wednesday afternoon, Mocha Macau Tower, Mocha Inner harbor and Mocha Kuong Fat all suspended operations. The Melco Resorts and Entertainment-backed properties were concerned about the typhoon, which had been classified as a Category 8 storm. The typhoon also forced a number of flights into Macau to be called off or rescheduled.
Wipha was expected to close in on Macau sometime during the late afternoon, bringing heavy rain and high winds to certain low-lying areas, including the Inner Harbour district. However, the storm altered its course slightly and began to weaken, ultimately dropping to a Category 3 storm by 1:30 AM Thursday morning. As a result, the DICJ gave the venues the go-ahead to reopen.
Macau has ramped up its typhoon preparations over the past couple of years after the city was hit by two major storms in consecutive storm seasons. Typhoon Hato rolled in as a Category 10 storm causing massive flooding and power outages in August 2017 and Typhoon Mangkhut, another Category 10 storm, hit in September of last year. That storm forced the city to close all the casinos in anticipation of the storm’s arrival, the first time it had taken the action in decades.
After witnessing the damage a typhoon could bring to Macau, the city has been making changes to its infrastructure. Drills have been held to gauge the response of businesses in the event a storm hits, and certain casino properties are installing floodgates in order to provide better protection.
Typhoon Wipha may have spared the city, but it isn’t the only storm expected to arise in the area this season. According to meteorologists, four to six massive typhoons could form this year and at least one could potentially make a path for Macau.
