In the neighbouring gambling enclave of Macau, all 42 casinos shut down for the first time in its history as the storm approached.
They opened again on Monday but Macau was still in recovery mode after severe flooding hit parts of the city, forcing emergency workers to rescue people from shops and homes using boats and jetskis.
On Monday morning, shopkeepers in Macau were hosing down their stores which had been caked in mud after the floodwaters receded.
The storm made landfall in mainland China late Sunday, killing four in Guangdong including three hit by falling trees.
Authorities there said they had evacuated more than three million people and ordered tens of thousands of fishing boats back to port before the arrival of what Chinese media dubbed the “King of Storms”.
In the city of Zhuhai, a stone’s throw from Macau, volunteers and police pulled fallen trees and debris off highways.
“I think it will take us three or four days before it gets back to normal,” said Zhang, a police officer clearing a road near Nanshui town.
Rice paddies and banana plantations along the highway were flooded and destroyed, while some factories in nearby industrial areas suffered damage.
“I was scared. I didn’t dare go out last night. At one point the flooding was this high,” said Zhen Jingli, from Yashao village, pointing to his waist.
In neighbouring Guangxi, alerts were issued for a dozen rivers running high due to the downpours and expected to rise even higher, leading to possible floods in the next 24 hours, Xinhua news agency reported.