Second BLOW

HONG KONG: A powerful storm lashed Hong Kong and Macau yesterday morning, just days after a punishing typhoon swept through the region and claimed at least 18 lives.

Both cities raised a “Typhoon 8” alert – the third-highest warning level – yesterday as severe tropical storm Pakhar, with winds of up to 130kph, made landfall in the region where emergency workers were still struggling to repair damage from Typhoon Hato’s hit on Wednesday.

A total of 206 flights were cancelled and another 471 delayed because of the latest storm, while 44 flights had to divert, the Hong Kong Airport Authority said.

Cathay Pacific, the city’s flagship, said “cancellations, diversions and severe

delays” were expected.

All ferry services in Hong Kong were suspended until the storm warning was lowered in both cities in the early afternoon. No deaths were reported yesterday but hospital officials said 62 people were injured.

A Chinese cargo ship was reported sinking east of Hong Kong but all 11 crew members were rescued. Sunday is a holiday but on a working day, the Typhoon 8 alert would have meant the shutdown of the stock market, schools and businesses.

Macau authorities issued new flood alerts as shops affected on Wednesday remained closed. Traffic lights stayed blacked out, with power yet to return to parts of the city.

Water supply has been restored, a Macau government statement said, but buildings with damaged pumps still lacked water.

“This is tough but there is nothing we can do,” said shopowner Leung Chin-pang, who has been without water since the first storm.

Pakhar – named after a freshwater fish in the lower Mekong river – arrived as worst-hit Macau was still picking up the pieces following Typhoon Hato, the city’s strongest typhoon in 53 years. Hato, that triggered the most severe “Typhoon 10” warning, ripped through the gambling hub on Wednesday, plunging casinos into darkness and causing destructive floods.

The official death toll in Macau reached 10, as the government of the semi-autonomous Chinese city faced recriminations over its lack of preparedness.

Another eight people died from the typhoon in the neighbouring mainland Chinese province of Guangdong, which Pakhar also reached mid-morning yesterday.