Typhoon Noul reached the coast of China’s Guangdong province on Saturday, prompting Hong Kong to raise its No. 8 storm signal that evening. The storm brought only a No. 3 signal to Macau, as the city remained on the extreme western edge of its path.
Banking group Citi said in a note that would-be travellers’ anticipation of the “untimely” weekend typhoon had probably contributed to the “light” foot traffic it observed in its monthly Macau casino survey conducted on Friday.
A No.8 storm signal results in the suspension of public transport services, including ferries and buses, and the closure of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
Overnight from Saturday into Sunday, Typhoon Noul passed within 80 kilometres (50 miles) of Hong Kong, making landfall in Huizhou city to the northeast.
At 1.10am on Sunday, Hong Kong upgraded the warning to No.9, before downgrading it back to No. 8 at 7.10am. The signal was lowered to No. 3 at 12.40pm on Sunday.
Hong Kong is Macau’s the second-largest source market for visitors after the Chinese mainland.
Macau’s first-half tally of visitors from neighbouring Guangdong rose 17 percent year-on-year, far outpacing the 2.5 percent growth recorded for visitors from the rest of the Chinese mainland, according to Macau government data.
Reuters reported on Sunday – citing Chinese authorities – that Typhoon Noul, described as the largest tropical storm this calendar year, had led to the precautionary relocation of more than 700,000 people in Guangdong.
