स्मृतिका पन्नाहरु

According to the present forecast track, Tropical cyclone “Saola” will continue to move west-north-westward towards the eastern Guangdong coastal area, approaching the Pearl River Estuary thereafter. Though the circulation of “Saola” is small, it moved slightly faster than expected, and will enter within 200 km from Macao on 1st Sept afternoon.

By then, winds will start strengthening significantly and thus the possibility of issuing the Tropical cyclone signal no.8 is high between 13:00 and 15:00 on the 1st Sept. Moreover, affecting by the strong rainband near the centre of “Saola”, there will be showers and thunderstorms in the next few days, heavy at times between the 2nd and the 3rd of Sept. Under the influence of astronomical tide, flooding of 0.5 meters or below will occur within inner-harbour area during daytime on the 1st Sept. In addition to the joint effect of storm surge, more significant flooding will occur in low-lying areas during daytime on the 2nd Sept.

Since “Saola” will be very close to the Pearl River Estuary, it will possess huge impact to Macao with chances of flooding level between 1-1.5 meters occurring in low-lying areas. Therefore, the possibility of issuing the orange storm surge warning is raised to relatively high. If “Saola” does make a direct hit to the Pearl River Estuary, SMG might need to issue even higher Tropical cyclone signals as well as the redstorm surge warning or above.The public is advised to pay attention to the latest weather information and take precautions against strong winds and flooding in advance. source: https://www.gov.mo/en/entity-page/entity-956/