Grieving Macau residents recount horror of Typhoon Hato
Residents of Inner Harbour, one of the worst-hit areas of the city, recall their fears as the water rose and tell of the emotional scars they bear
A jumble of rubbish, broken Chinese porcelain pots, piles of old and wet boxes, damaged vehicles and broken wooden furniture were scattered in the streets in the days after the storm. Ip’s world – at the age of two – turned into a nightmare.
The worst typhoon that Macau has seen since 1968 left wounds not only in the city, but also in this boy. “He is still terrified. When something out of the ordinary happens, he starts crying,” said Ip’s grandmother, Leong Kwai-heng, 65.
“That day, we ran to the first floor. The ground floor was full of water. He was really afraid ... He started screaming and crying when he saw the water coming, rising up and covering the stairs,” Leong recalled. “Our glass doors were broken and the power was out. We feared the water could reach our first floor,” she said, noting that it was 3 metres deep.
Not far from their antique store, two people drowned in the basement of a rice shop. Typhoon Hato claimed the lives of at least eight others across the city and left more than 240 people injured, hundreds of trees uprooted, billboards torn down and windows shattered.