by Natalie Leung

The weather bureau at 7:00 am yesterday hoisted gale signal No.8 when typhoon Kammuri swept Macau with intense storms, causing hundreds of people to be stranded at the ferry terminal and airport with nearly 100 incidents reported.
Kammuri was the second typhoon after Neoguri in April that led to a signal No.8 in Macau this year.
After the signal No.3 had been hoisted for 11 hours in Macau, the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) lifted the warning level to No.8 at 7:00 am before dropping it back to No.3 at 20:00 pm on the same day.
The three bridges connecting the Macau Peninsula and Taipa as well as the Lotus Bridge between Cotai and Heng Qin Island were shut at 8.30 am, half an hour after opening Sai Van Bridge's lower deck emergency lane.
However, the Macau-Taipa bridges reopened at the same time when the gale signal No.8 was replaced by strong wind signal No.3.
According to a duty forecaster, Coloane registered the highest amount of rainfall from midnight to 20:00 pm at 50 mm, with the peak hour between 8:00 am and 9:00 am at 10 mm.
The Macau Peninsula during the same period recorded a total rainfall of 43 mm, also at its highest between 8:00 am and 9:00 am at 9.8 mm.
The tropical cyclone landed on Yangjiang in Guangdong province last night after leaving Macau at a speed of 20 kilometres per hour.
During the 13 hour hoisting of signal No.8, Air Macau's flights to Shanghai, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Manila and Hangzhou yesterday had been rescheduled to either a different time on the same day or today.
Air Macau's full services had been resumed at 20:00 pm last night, while Eva Air announced cancellation of all its yesterday's flights. For seats re-confirmation call +853 28726866.
At the same time, TurboJet and New World First Ferry suspended their sailings between Hong Kong and Macau at 4:00 am, leaving hundreds of passengers sitting inside the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal waiting for the service resumption.
Until 20:00 pm sailings were back to normal, whilst First Ferry's services from Macau to Kowloon will only start at 7:00 am today.
CotaiJet also suspended their sailings due to weather conditions until 19.30 pm in Hong Kong Shun Tak and 21:00 pm in Taipa Pac On.
TransMac and TCM buses were back on the roads at 20:00 pm and 20.30 pm respectively.
According to the Civil Defence Centre, low lying areas in the Inner Harbour were reported flooding with rain accumulated as high as half of a tyre.
In addition, 95 reports of incidents in Macau and Taipa were received, which were mainly fallen trees, scaffoldings and signs, as well as loosen windows and canopies.
No injuries were reported during the day, the Civil Defence Centre said.
The Social Welfare Bureau opened its public shelters in Ilha Verde, Barra and Taipa when typhoon Kammuri hit Macau, with reportedly nine people checked in at the Ilha Verde centre.
Under yesterday's intense storms, Visiting session at the Macau Prison was held up, training and exams at the Productivity and Technology Transfer Centre were cancelled, and service appointments of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau were postponed.
As well, all outdoor training sessions of the Olympics athletes in Macau were cancelled yesterday.
The weather bureau's forecast today shows heavy rains with occasional thunderstorms. The duty forecaster said the SMG did not yet consider hoisting signal No.1 or removing the typhoon signal later last night as winds were still travelling at a strong speed.
Hong Kong also hoisted the typhoon signal No.8 between 5.40 am and 17.15 pm yesterday.