The Meteorological and Geophysics Bureau (SMG) hoisted the “Black Rainstorm” warning signal at 2 p.m. yesterday, the highest of its three-level rainstorm warning system – yellow, red, black.
The rainstorm triggered severe flooding, hitting Taipa the hardest.
According to public broadcaster TDM, the floods started at 2:11 p.m. and continued in the afternoon.
At 6:35 p.m., all rainstorm warning signals were cancelled.
No injuries were reported.
Typhoon “Podul” made landfall in eastern Guangdong in the early hours of yesterday. While the tropical cyclone did not directly strike Macau, its peripheral systems unleashed torrential downpours across the territory, causing flooding in some areas.
According to the SMG website, as of 7 p.m. yesterday, the Ka-Ho monitoring station had recorded cumulative precipitation of nearly 271.6 millimetres during the rainstorm, while the Taipa Grande and Coloane Village stations both registered over 245 millimetres. All other monitoring stations reported accumulations exceeding 100 millimetres.
During the period of the “Black Rainstorm”, the observatory’s water level monitoring station at Caminho das Hortas recorded 0.92 metre, Iec Long recorded 0.55 metre, Rua da Ponte Negra and Seac Pai Van recorded 0.34 metre each.
During the “Black Rainstorm” warning period, according to official reports, the Fire Services Bureau (CB) and Public Security Police (PSP) responded to a total of 55 distress calls – 29 incidents handled by the PSP and 26 by the CB, with no casualties reported. The police cases included vehicle entrapments, landslides, and building façade collapses. The Fire Services Bureau’s responses involved 15 potential entrapments along with various emergencies such as debris removal, water leakage, landslides, fallen trees, rock collapses, and flood mitigation operations. All incidents were promptly addressed with additional personnel deployment, the authorities said last night.
Residents in Taipa’s Lake Building (湖畔大廈) told the Post they saw torrents of floodwater cascading like a raging river from Estrada da Ponta da Cabrita (雞頸馬路) towards Estrada Coronel Nicolau de Mesquita (美副將馬路). They acknowledged that they had initially planned to go for a drive around Taipa with the family to “see the floods”, but ended up returning home because Taipa was completely gridlocked with traffic everywhere.
According to the SMG website, under the influence of Typhoon “Podul’s” outer rainbands, frequent heavy showers and thunderstorms with strong gusts are expected in Macau early today. The observatory also forecast more flooding in low-lying areas due to heavy rainfall.
According to PSP messages, areas closed to traffic for a certain period of time due to flooding yesterday included the Praça de Ferreira do Amaral Underground Traffic Tunnel (亞馬喇前地地下行車道), Rua do Porto (氹仔波爾圖街), Rua de Chiu Chau (潮州街), Rua Fernão Mendes Pinto (飛能便度街), Rotunda da Central Térmica de Coloane (電廠圓形地), Avenida Wai Long (偉龍馬路), Rotunda Ouvidor Arriaga (氹仔亞利亞雅圓形地), Avenida de Cinco de Outubro (路環十月初五馬路), Estrada do Alto de Coloane (路環高頂馬路水塘旁), Estrada do Istmo (路氹連貫公路近哥爾夫球場及輕軌工程), Caminho das Hortas (氹仔菜園路), Largo dos Bombeiros (氹仔消防局前地), University of Macau Campus Tunnel (澳大河底隧道), Avenida das Virtudes (氹仔明德大馬路), Avenida do Transporte (暢運大馬路), Avenida do Progresso (永進大馬路) and Rua Fernão Mendes Pinto (氹仔飛能便度街).
A taxi braves severe flooding on the Cotai roundabout during yesterday afternoon’s “Black Rainstorm” warning. – Photo: MPDG
Source: SMG
