The tropical storm Kammuri forced local transport authority to suspend road, air and sea traffic services on Wednesday morning, as it edged closer to the Macao Special Administrative Region in south China.

The Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) hoisted the gale signal No. 8 at 7:00 AM local time, warning that tropical cyclone Kammuri were detected 90 km south off the coast of Macao at 1:00 PM. local time and was moving at a speed of 11 km per hour toward northwest by west.

The SMG also said that Kammuri will be the nearest to Macao in the coming hours, and it has recorded a maximum wind speed of 112 km per hour so far.

As the storm escalated, the three bridges linking the Macao Peninsula and Taipa island and the one connecting Macao to neighboring Zhuhai of south China's Guangdong Province were all closed at 8:30 AM on Wednesday.

Ferry service was also stopped due to the storm. There were a large number of passengers stranded in the departure hall of the city's Outer Harbor, as the ferries they originally schedule to board on were canceled. Some of the ferry operators have offered to give full refund to those who purchased Wednesday's ferry tickets.

Meanwhile, most of the city's bus service and flights at the Macao International Airport were either delayed or canceled.

The storm has caused some accidents as the strong wind dragged down many fascia and trees. In a district of the city, a shop's fascia was blown down by the wind and damaged a car parked below it, but no one was injured in the accident.

Bad weather also forced the authorities of some local institutions and schools to cancel their exams scheduled to take place on Wednesday. The city's prison authority has announced that they will suspend prisoner visiting arrangement.

The SMG forecast that Thursday will be cloudy with gentle to fresh gusty winds and heavy showers at times.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2008)