BEIJING (Sputnik) — Typhoon Hato, one of the strongest storms on record, made landfall in China’s gambling hub of Macao on Wednesday, killing eight people and hurting 153, according to the latest estimates by local authorities, cited by the China Central Television.
The storm also tore through coastal Hong Kong, Guangdong, and Fujian provinces in China’s southeast. Authorities in Guangdong’s city of Zhuhai said on the Weibo microblog two residents had perished and 275 homes had been reduced to rubble.
Another two people died in Guangdong's prefecture-level city of Zhongshan in the Pearl River Delta. Strong gusts of wind uprooted trees and tore down power cables, while high tides along the waterfront swept away bridges and damaged sea ports.
The typhoon is predicted to grow weaker as it moves deeper into mainland China on Thursday. The current estimates of the damage stand at $1.02 billion.