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By Ben Blaschke and Andrew W Scott
Macau’s casino operators were left scrambling to assess the full extent of damage to their properties on Thursday, with many of them still days away from resuming full operations in the aftermath of Typhoon Hato.
Inside Asian Gaming toured the city yesterday, with most of Macau’s casinos and resorts showing at least some damage as a result of the strongest typhoon recorded in Macau in 53 years and first T10 typhoon since the handover in 1999. We also contacted operators city-wide to ask how repair and recovery efforts were progressing.
Among the worst hit was Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM), where both Grand Lisboa and Lisboa’s entrances were blocked to the public when we arrived. Although we received no reply to inquiries from SJM, we did speak to the Property Vice President at Jai Alai and Oceanus casinos who informed us that there was no water supply, while the streets around the sister properties were also completely blocked when we tried to gain access.
On the opposite side of the Peninsula, Ponte 16 is known to have suffered extensive damage after its gaming floor completely flooded during Wednesday’s storm.
MGM Macau and the construction site for the soon to open MGM Cotai showed clear damage to windows and other areas of their façade, with MGM China telling IAG, “We have been working closely with the combined support of the Macau government and the utilities companies including our power, water and telephone services to restore operations and protect our employees and guests.
“We would like to thank our staff for their hard work and cooperation during this difficult time. We are reaching out to all of our employees to make certain everyone is safe and accounted for.
“The resort is working very diligently to take care of our existing guests and communicate with any incoming guests. We have sustained some damage to the building, which is relatively minor and we believe will not have any impact on our return to normal operations.
“While the typhoon has now passed, the recovery will take some time and we stand ready to support the Macau community and our staff.”
Melco Resorts also suffered damage and interruptions across its three properties, most notably at Altira where power was still down on Thursday.
“Our teams have been on full alert since early yesterday morning to deal with the effects of Typhoon Hato,” the company said in a statement.
“Our properties have suffered minimal external damages which will be repaired over the next few days. City of Dreams and Studio City remain fully operational. Altira has suffered from some power shortages, so we have decided to take preemptive measures by relocating guests to our Cotai properties.
“We thank our colleagues for the extraordinary efforts they have made to accommodate our guests and ensure their safety and comfort.”
Wynn didn’t respond to inquiries but IAG observed a number of broken windows at Wynn Palace as well as minor damage to decorative elements of its surrounds including various lights. At Wynn Macau, the air conditioning system was still down throughout Thursday but that didn’t seem to worry players with gaming tables in the property still bustling with early afternoon traffic.
Galaxy didn’t escape quite so lightly, with a security guard at Broadway Macau telling us the hotel and casino were undergoing “maintenance work” and had “no power or water.” He added that guests were being directed to Galaxy Macau, located across the road.
Later in the day Assistant Senior Vice President of Public Relations Buddy Lam told IAG, “Typhoon Hato has affected much of Macau at different levels, including Galaxy Entertainment Group’s (GEG) properties. Our team members have been handling the situation as best they can and some of our facilities have resumed normal operations, but we are still working on other facilities that suffered more severe damage.
“In response to a limitation of resources, GEG has implemented a contingency plan and integrating properties’ resources, including switching off the external lighting installations in order to reduce power consumption.
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“Regarding Typhoon Hato’s impact on Macau, GEG has remained in close communication with different departments to ensure the safety of all parties. GEG would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to our team members for working in close unity and to our guests for their patience and understanding, and expresses it sincere regret and compassion to all affected Macau residents and team members.
“As the typhoon has caused severe damage across Macau, GEG will make special provisions to ensure team members who need to take care of families and attend to urgent household emergencies will have flexibility in their working hours and attendance so they are not adversely affected.
“GEG will continue to provide a safe and comfortable resting environment for team members on duty. All departments will also coordinate on human resources to ensure that all operations are maintained. The company is staying in close communication with related team members and will provide necessary support to them.”
Sands China told IAG that its properties – the Venetian Macao, Parisian, Sands Cotai Central, Plaza and Sands Macao – have been “affected by a power outage since yesterday, with backup generators functioning accordingly as designed. Our properties are making progress to resume normal operations.”
It added that, “Public safety and security are a top priority for Sands China. We consistently endeavor to safeguard the comfort and safety of our guests even under the most critical circumstances.”
IAG has also learned that the Venetian’s back of house systems were down on Thursday with a number of employees sent home while repairs continued. Late Thursday, Sands China announced that it was canceling its 10th anniversary celebrations scheduled for this coming Monday 28 August until further notice.
“We will keep you posted on any new developments, if and when they occur,” it said.
“Meanwhile, we are working closely with our local communities to help restore, rebuild and provide assistance to those that have been affected by this typhoon. It is in difficult times like this that we must come together to overcome the challenges as one community.”
As at the time of publishing Legend Palace had not responded to IAG, but that may be due to communication difficulties. In a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange late last night, Legend Palace said, “The board hereby announces that due to the loss of electricity supply in Macau and at the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf caused by typhoon, the company encounters [sic] difficulty to have effective communication with Directors and other professional parties for convening the Board Meeting [previously scheduled for 24 August 2017] and its subsequent matters. Hence, the Board Meeting will be adjourned to 31 August 2017.”
In a dramatic aftermath to the storms, which resulted in eight confirmed deaths in Macau by late Thursday (with potentially more to come) and a further eight in Zhuhai, the head of the Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau, Fong Soi Kun, tendered his resignation which was accepted by Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On. The government has received extensive criticism on social media from Macau residents on a number of matters relating to its handling of Typhoon Hato both before and after the storm hit Macau. These include the late hoisting of the T10 signal (some 2 hours and 20 minutes after Hong Kong hoisted T10), insufficient staffing of the 999 emergency phone service which failed to answer many calls, slow restoration of electricity and water services and poor communication with the public of Macau.
