Macao schools, transport resume operations as tropical storm moves away

MACAO, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Local schools and public transport resumed normal operations in Wednesday afternoon, as tropical cyclone "Fengshen" continued to move away from Macao and make its landfall in Southeastern China.

The magnitude of the cyclone has reduced, and it was located 120 kilometers north off Macao coast, sweeping northwestward at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour, according to the update released at 1:28 p.m. Wednesday by the Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG).

The SMG issued a thunderstorm warning at 1:25 p.m..

As the bad weather lessened, local education authorities resumed classes in local primary and middle schools, but creches continued to be suspended for this afternoon.

Meanwhile, ferry services between Macao and Hong Kong, suspended last night, also started its daily operations at noon Wednesday, and most of the flights in the Macao International Airport were resumed.

Due to the tropical storm, local rainfall averaged 20 mm per hour in the morning, and total precipitation for the first 12 hours of Wednesday reached 125 mm, according to the SMG.