The Aftermath of Typhoon Hato in Zhuhai: The Bay Bar Street on Shuiwan Road

After surveying the damage at the Lianhua Road Pedestrian Street and near the waterfront at Qinglu South Road from Typhoon Hato in Zhuhai I headed to the Bay Bar Street (海湾酒吧街), also known as the Shuiwan Bar Street (水湾酒吧街) and simply Bar Street. This section of Shuiwan Road just one block from the waterfront is lined with restaurants, clubs, and, not so surprisingly, bars. I typically stop by there at least once any time I am in Zhuhai because of the food at a favorite place. The bar street was also notable for the thick green canopy covering most of its length thanks to the rows of trees on either side.

After the typhoon, though, much of that canopy was gone and the scenes seemed surreal. Below is a set of photographs taken only hours after the typhoon had hit there. In addition to the numerous fallen trees, they capture people taking photographs, making their way through debris, collecting scrap material, cleaning up, and attempting to cut some of the tree branches. This is one street that even after the cleanup is finished where the effects of Typhoon Hato will remain easy to see for a long time to come.

The Aftermath of Typhoon Hato in Zhuhai: Near the Water in Gongbei

Though it wasn't as dramatic as the damage on the Lianhua Road Pedestrian Street, just hours after Typhoon Hato hit Zhuhai there were downed and damaged trees on Yuehai East Road as well.

There were also a number of downed road signs not far from the waterfront.

When a yield signs yields

More worrying was one partially damaged street sign which slowly swung above people walking by, typically unaware of it.

Perhaps in part because it was difficult to go elsewhere, many people were out as usual at the coastline walking area along Qinglu South Road (Lovers' Road).

Buildings in the distance are in Macau

Thought it wasn't hard to spot damage there as well.

Portions of the stone railway had been destroyed.

Buildings in the distance are in Zhuhai

Some of railing could be found on the other side of the walkway.

Even with the debris around, one young man rolled about on his self-balancing scooter.

Off of Qinglu South Road, Lian'an Road was easy to miss. It had been hidden by yet another fallen tree.

Further along Lian'an Road were more signs of the storm.

At this point, I came to a portion of Shuiwan Road which had been especially transformed by the typhoon. More to come . . .

The Aftermath of Typhoon Hato in Zhuhai: The Lianhua Road Pedestrian Street

Looking east down Qiaoguang Road from the intersection with the Lianhua Road Pedestrian Street

The Lianhua Road Pedestrian Street leads from the land border between mainland China and Macau to areas farther north in Zhuhai. Along and near the well-trafficked pedestrian street are many restaurants, hair salons, clothing stores, and other businesses. Below are some photos taken just hours after powerful Typhoon Hato hit Zhuhai, China — obviously not a typical moment for the street. The scenes capture some of the destruction there and how life continued, such as people walking through and around large fallen trees, a man petting a dog at a typically closed-off construction site, and one of the very few stores on the street already welcoming customers once more.

My Own Experience: Typhoon Hato Hits Zhuhai

Yesterday at the Lianhua Road Pedestrian Street in Zhuhai, China

After seeing a curious tweet early in the early evening two days ago, I discovered Zhuhai had a fair chance of soon being directly hit by a typhoon. I pondered the weather forecast. I pondered the fact that I had recently arrived in Zhuhai and was now staying only a couple of blocks from the water.

I had earlier noticed that rain was headed this way, but Google's concise weather forecast left out the tiny detail of "TYPHOON". The more detailed reports I now checked indicated the typhoon would be classified in the Western Hemisphere as category 1 — the weakest category for hurricanes using the Saffir–Simpson scale which goes up to category 5. I figured my best bet was to ride it out and assume I might not accomplish much the next day. Not deeply concerned but feeling like I might as well get in the spirit, I headed to the supermarket to stock up on supplies — including the ingredients to make my first peanut butter & jelly sandwich in several years.

Long story short, I stayed up very late enjoying most of my emergency supplies, including a bit of gin purchased at a 7-Eleven, while tracking the storm and going down a YouTube rabbit hole. The storm hadn't hit when I finally went to sleep sometime around 7 a.m. When I woke up the storm was over, and my room seemed much warmer. I soon diagnosed the problem: my hotel had no electricity, except a backup supply powering the hallway emergency lights.

After eating another peanut butter & jelly sandwich, I headed out to walk around Gongbei, the subdistrict in Zhuhai with the only land-border between Macau and mainland China. I am no expert on powerful storms, but I questioned how the damage I saw could be the result of just a category 1 storm. And I thought that there surely must be some deaths in the region.

When I arrived at Gongbei Port, the typically busy immigration channel to Macau was closed. One foreigner I met there expressed concern he would not able to cross in time before his Chinese visa expired that day. Before I left the area, though, power had been restored and police were giving signs there was reason for hope. It opened later in the day.

As I walked around other parts of Gongbei during the remaining daylight hours, I saw some areas had their power restored, though some of those remained without running water. Some streets reminded me of scenes in the movie Planet of the Apes. When I returned to my hotel at dusk, this part of Zhuhai still had no power. I decided to stay put expecting that finding a better option would prove too challenging. I successfully took a cool shower in complete darkness, and tried to go to sleep early with the help of some American over-the-counter sleep medicine. I woke up slightly before midnight to discover that power had been restored and turned on the air conditioning before returning to bed.

Today while surveying more of the damage I saw that some parts of Zhuhai still remained without power as of this afternoon. That didn't stop one restaurant from serving its special roasted goose, which I enjoyed while sweating in the heat.

I also learned today that the storm had quickly gained power and made it up to category 3 (category 10 storm, the highest, using Hong Kong's system) before making landfall in Zhuhai. That explains what I have seen much better. At the moment, there are sadly 16 confirmed deaths — 8 in mainland China and 8 in Macau. In a series of later posts, I will share photos capturing capturing some of the damage at various locations in Gongbei, Zhuhai, and how people dealt with it. I will update this post with links to those.

Also, yes, I am obviously no longer in Bengbu. I had planned to continue with Bengbu-themed posts a little longer until the typhoon derailed my plans. Although I don't plan to return to Bengbu in the near future, I hope to post more about it later.

Anyway, admittedly part of me is disappointed to have slept through the biggest storm I have ever experienced. But at least that way I avoided any temptation to immerse myself as I often like to do.



Update: Posts with scenes of damage from Typhoon Hato in Zhuhai:

1. The Lianhua Road Pedestrian Street
2. Near the Water in Gongbei
3. The Bay Bar Street on Shuiwan Road
4. A Fallen Tree on Baishi Road
5. The Midtown Complex
6. More From Gongbei
7. The Recovery