*** ----> Four dead as typhoon smashes into Macau and Hong Kong | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

Four dead as typhoon smashes into Macau and Hong Kong

Hong Kong : Typhoon Hato left three dead in the gambling hub of Macau Wednesday as it brought chaos and destruction to the enclave after sweeping through neighbouring Hong Kong, where one man also died.

Local media showed severe flooding had left cars underwater and people swimming in Macau's city streets, with the territory's mega-casinos running on back-up generators. 

Three men aged 30 to 65 died, the Macau government said, while two people were missing. One of the men died after being injured by a wall that blew down, another fell from a fourth floor terrace and the last was a Chinese tourist hit by a truck.

Apple Daily showed footage of people swimming through muddy water in what are usually roads, and being swept off their feet by winds. 

The sprawling Venetian casino resort was on back-up power and without air conditioning or proper lighting, said one person.

One employee of Sands, which owns the Venetian and the Parisian, said power had been out across the whole of Macau but was beginning to return.

"Because many guests come in the summer, a lot of them have been stuck in the major resorts and casinos," the employee said.

"All transportations -- air, ground, sea -- have halted, so customers who have checked out cannot leave yet."

Electricity was still down at the Grand Lisboa Wednesday afternoon, with the casino and restaurants there out of action, a staff member told AFP.

Residents took to social media to complain about city-wide power and mobile phone network outages.

Brian Chan, 31, said authorities had failed to give enough notice of the impending storm and were not properly prepared, describing the territory as "totally lost" in the typhoon.

The water supply was also limited, authorities said, and 50 flights cancelled from its international airport.

In Hong Kong, hurricane force winds and heavy rains shut down the stock market and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights in the worst storm the city has seen for five years.

The government said 84 people had been injured and around 280 people were taking refuge in temporary shelters.