Casinos across Macau shut down or limited operations on Wednesday after a devastating T10 typhoon lashed the city, causing extensive flooding and power outages.
The storm, the strongest measured in Macau in 53 years and the first T10 typhoon to hit Macau since the handover in 1999, saw at least three people lose their lives as winds measuring more than 100 miles per hour damaged buildings and forced services all across the region to shut down.
A number of casinos on the Macau Peninsula were forced to cease all gaming operations as a city-wide blackout hit early afternoon with Ponte 16 suffering severe flooding through its main gaming floor.
Macau’s larger integrated resorts were able to continue operating due to backup power generators although most limited their services. It is not yet known how the power outage will impact operations in the coming days, with Union Gaming analyst Grant Govertsen stating overnight that “the duration of the power outages could become an issue for certain casinos should generators begin to run out of fuel and only essential functions are kept online.”
The storm could also have a lingering impact upon travel to and from the city amid reported damage to both Macau and Taipa ferry terminals. Ferry operations were shut down early in the day, flights cancelled and border gates closed.
The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) yesterday urged casinos located in seriously affected areas to cease gaming operations, while Cotai’s larger properties didn’t escape untouched with the Venetian reportedly running without air conditioning or full lighting.
Melco Resorts was forced to cease operations at Altira and relocate guests to Cotai, despite its flagship City of Dreams property suffering damage to windows and Studio City damage to its entrance.
In a statement, Melco Resorts said, “Our properties have suffered minimal external damage, which will be repaired over the next few days … City of Dreams and Studio City remain fully operational.”
The South China Morning Post reported one Wynn Macau staff member as saying, “All our systems broke down. We do not have electricity and water.”
Macau’s concessionaires can also expect to take a larger financial hit due to loss of business.
“August had been shaping up to be a very strong month from a GGR growth perspective, with actual GGR growth likely running ahead of estimated weekly numbers,” said Govertsen. “This was a function of the two full weekends of Hong Kong-star Jacky Cheung’s concerts at the Venetian, which provided a material uplift in GGR across all of Macau especially at the VIP and premium mass levels.
“Following today’s typhoon, we would expect the GGR growth rate to take a couple hundred basis point hit, which could easily become notably worse should power supply issues remain overnight and into the next day.”
Inside Asian Gaming learned late Wednesday night that all casinos have been issued a government warning to conserve water.
