The Aftermath of Typhoon Hato in Zhuhai: The Midtown Complex

According to a Zhuhai city website, the Midtown in the Gongbei subdistrict is:

Zhuhai’s first urban complex, covers a total floor area of 270,000 sq m, including the Fashion streets of 70,000 sq m, Novotel (Pullman) Hotel, a twin-tower Grade-A office building, and exquisite apartments. It integrates tourism, relaxation, shopping, catering, entertainment and business.

Just up the road from where I saw an& example of the remarkable damage from Typhoon Hato, despite its recent construction it too didn't survive the storm unscathed. Upon arriving there one day after the typhoon, I quickly noticed one of the piles of broken glass scattered around the complex.

A few steps back . . .

. . . and a few steps closer . . .

. . . revealed a possible source of the glass: windows from the two office towers. One person who spoke with me claimed the windows were blown off due to having been left open. Whatever the reason, a pockmarked surface is a terrible selling point for a relatively new and supposedly modern building still seeking tenants. More importantly, falling windows are obviously a major safety concern.

Nearby, the wooden structure for one of the two covered walkways succumbed to the storm.

The other one fared much better.

At another entrance to the complex, an area previously closed off appeared to have suffered much damage as well.

In the main commercial area, most of the obvious damage was to storefront signs.

Finally, as elsewhere, not all of the trees made it through the storm unscathed.

Mostly, the Midtown appeared to have done OK after being hit by a category 3 storm, but those windows . . .