The casinos in Macau had to force-shutdown their buildings since there was a very devastating typhoon named Mangkhut that flooded the city. This is the first time in history that these casinos had to shut their doors due to an external threat.
Typhoon Mangkhut caused huge problems for Hong Kong and so far, 59 people have been found dead only in the Philippines. The casinos were shut down during Sunday and opened up on Monday morning once again. The experts estimate that the revenue loss for that period is $186 million for the operators.
Speed Never Seen
Mangkhut’s speed was astonishing – it was over 200 kilometers per hours (which is approximately 123 miles per hour). In fact, this typhoon is the strongest one that appeared in the last twelve months. It will be remembered by a lot of damage, which also includes the 59 victims, as well as big floods in Hong Kong. When it comes to injuries, there were approximately 200 people who required medical assistance in the city. Furthermore, the province of Guangdong, China also reported four victims.
The authorities of China issued an alert of highest authority on Saturday which meant that all of the casinos in Macau had to close the doors and shut down until it was safe to re-open.
When it comes to the damages done to the casinos – they certainly do exist. In fact, Macau’s casinos were partially flooded and there were great power cuts all over the city. These casinos usually work 24/7 and they had to close since all of the people in the city were ordered to stay inside their homes.
The precaution was understandable because the last time a typhoon hit Macau, 10 people were killed in this city. Therefore, this time the awareness was increased and everyone had to respect the code red when it was issued by the local authorities. There are 42 casinos in Macau at the moment and all of them had to shut down for a period of 33 hours.
History Behind Casinos
The casinos in Macau started operating back in 2002 when some of the big operators received a license to open up a casino in this city. It is uncertain how this typhoon would affect the revenue of the casinos by the end of the year.
The closure of the casinos also resulted in gaming stocks to fall in Hong Kong, which resulted also in a 2.1 fall in Bloomberg Intelligence index.
Some of the operators experienced big declines. For example, Galaxy Entertainment Group fell by 4.6, while SJM Holdings feel by 3.2 percent. However, the biggest fall was reserved for Melco International Development as it sunk by as much as 5.7 percent.
Most of the casinos are now operating, but there are a couple of places that are still closed due to the problems with floods. Both Macau and Hong Kong are now trying to get back into the normal routine after this big typhoon.
