The government has revised up its estimate of financial losses caused by Super Typhoon Hato in August last year, from the initial estimate of 11.47 billion patacas to 12.55 billion patacas (US$ 1.5 billion), according to a statement by the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) Thursday.
The statement noted that the preliminary estimation carried out by the bureau after the killer typhoon hit Macau indicated that the typhoon-induced financial losses – as measured at that time – amounted to 11.47 billion patacas, consisting of 8.31 billion patacas of direct losses and 3.16 billion patacas of indirect ones.
Hato hit Macau on August 23, causing massive flooding, killing 10 and injuring 244. The government first announced its preliminary estimate of 11.47 billion patacas during a post-Hato press conference on September 6.
The statement said that after Hato struck Macau, the bureau’s staff carried out the estimation of the financial losses on housing, vehicles, shops and public facilities caused by the typhoon, based on information available at that time.
The government said on September 6 that DSEC officials collected data from various government entities including the Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM), Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) and Public Security Police (PSP) for analysis, to come up with the preliminary estimate.
The government said at that time that the DSEC officials also estimated the financial losses by using the bureau’s historical data of the city’s various business sector performances. The officials also carried out on-site inspections of damaged buildings in some of the areas affected by the typhoon.
The bureau said in the statement Thursday that following the preliminary estimation, DSEC officials started to collect more comprehensive data and information from various government entities on the financial losses caused by Hato to their own facilities.
According to the statement, the bureau now estimates the financial losses caused by Hato at 12.55 billion patacas – consisting of 9.05 billion patacas of direct losses and 3.5 billion patacas of indirect ones.
