As the tropical storm Kammuri approached Macao Wednesday morning, local public traffic of land, air and sea were mostly suspended.

The Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) hoisted the gale signal No. 8 at 7:00 a.m. local time, warning that tropical cyclone Kammuri were detected 130 km southeast by south off the coast of Macao at 8:00 a.m. local time, and was moving at a speed of 10 km per hour toward northwest by west .

The SMG also said that it recorded a maximum wind speed of 106 km per hour on Wednesday.

As the storm escalated, the three bridges linking the Macao Peninsula and Taipa island were closed at 8:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

Ferry and bus services were also stopped this morning due to the storm, while most of the flights at the Macao International Airport were either delayed or canceled.

The storm has caused some minor accidents as the strong wind dragged down many fascias and trees in the island city. In a district of the city, a shop's fascia was blown down by the wind and damaged a car parked below it.

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)