Hong Kong floods spark black weather warning as worst rain in 140 years kills 2
Hong Kong has been swamped by a record-breaking rainstorm that killed two and turned the streets into raging torrents.
Hong Kong police said that two bodies were found floating in waters in different parts of the city. The city's fire services department said it had evacuated 110 people and assisted 20 injured people. The city's response to the rain and floods has drawn criticism from residents online, who questioned the authorities' preparedness for such an emergency.
The storm, delivering the most rainfall in an hour since records began in 1884, has closed businesses and schools and submerged roads, shopping centres and metro stations, with the territory's authorities telling workers to stay at home. The Hong Kong Observatory recorded 158.1mm (6.2 inches) of rainfall between 11pm on Thursday and midnight, with the weather bureau issuing a black rainstorm warning – the first in nearly two years – which remains in place until midnight tonight.
The flooding has left vehicles stranded across the territory (AFP via Getty Images)Senior Hong Kong official Eric Chan said that the predictability of rainfall "cannot be compared with that of a typhoon". He said that various departments in Hong Kong had been working overnight to tackle the situation. Videos circulating on social media show flooded streets in Hong Kong and nearby Guangdong province, with vehicles driving through the water and rescue teams using rafts to navigate the streets.
It warned residents to stay safe after it recorded more than 200mm (7.9 inches) of rain on Hong Kong's main island, Kowloon and the north-eastern part of the city's New Territories since Thursday night. A weather bureau spokesperson said: "Heavy rain will bring flash floods. Residents living in close proximity to rivers should stay alert to weather conditions and should consider evacuation if their homes are flooded."
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According to Sky News, all activity across the territory was halted and videos on social media showed people being washed down streets while those in vehicles struggled to make any headway on the roads. Metro workers were filmed up to their waists in water trying to hold back the deluge gushing down the escalators and stairs into the station, while other images showed a huge hole in a collapsed road with a vehicle trapped in it.
Hong Kong leader John Lee said he was "very concerned" about the severe flooding, and had instructed all departments to "respond with all-out efforts". All schools were suspended and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will stay closed while the city's black rainstorm warning remains live. Typhoon Haikui has been deemed to be the cause of the excessive rainfall, according to the weather bureau, with the storm leaving a "trough of low pressure", which earlier this week swept through Taiwan and southern China's Fujian province.
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