Flash flooding shuts down city of Hong Kong following heaviest downpour

A lot of rain fell in Hong Kong on Friday, causing big problems. Metro stations were flooded and drivers couldn’t move on the roads. The government closed schools and told people to find a safe place to stay.

Pictures and videos showed people walking through dirty brown floodwaters as the city of 7. 5 million people continued to get heavy rain. In certain low-lying places, streets turned into fast-flowing rivers, and officials had to save drivers stranded in their cars.

The heavy rain started on Thursday night, with the Hong Kong Observatory measuring over 158 millimeters (6. 2 inches) of rainfall between 11 p. mThe government stated that the highest amount of rainfall in one hour since records started in 1884 occurred at midnight.

According to the OGimet weather website, certain areas of the city received almost 500 millimeters (19. 7 inches) of rain within a day.

The very bad weather surprised a lot of people who live here and happened shortly after the strongest typhoon in five years hit Hong Kong.

Typhoon Saola was a very strong storm that became weaker when it reached Hong Kong last weekend. However, it was still powerful enough to close the city and make hundreds of flights cancel. The typhoon caused harm to 86 individuals, according to the government.

On Friday, heavy rain caused a lot of problems for transportation and businesses in the financial hub. The stock market didn’t open in the morning and all schools were closed for the day. On Friday, officials asked companies to let non-essential workers stay home or find a safe place due to dangerous travel conditions.

Stuart Hargreaves, who lives in Hong Kong and works as a professor, had to sleep in his car because he got stuck and couldn’t go home on Thursday night. The roads were completely flooded and impossible to pass, according to him. At one time, the water was so high that it was flowing over the front of the car and he was worried it would damage the engine.

Many other cars were also flooded and floating close by, he said. He found a safe spot to park his car, but he couldn’t leave because there was no way to get out. He had to wait until morning to leave. He said that when he finally got home after nine hours, the road was covered in rocks from landslides, debris from trees, and abandoned cars.

As of Friday afternoon, Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority reported that 119 people have been hurt from the heavy rain. Four of them are in critical condition. The government said on Friday that they expect the harsh conditions to continue until at least midnight.

The city’s subway system, Mass Transit Railway, said it will stop running trains on one of its lines because a station in the Wong Tai Sin area got flooded. Videos online show water rushing down the stairs of the station. Another video shows workers at a different station standing in water that goes up to their knees. They are having a hard time trying to prevent the water from flooding in.

While some subway stations stayed open, the main bus, tram, and ferry services were stopped, says RTHK. Some buses started working again on Friday afternoon, but a lot of bus routes are still closed or going a different way.

Several roads were closed because there was a risk of landslides in the hilly area. The authorities gave a “black” rainstorm warning, which is the highest level of warning, for the first time in two years.

Videos from Thursday evening show water flooding into the first level of certain buildings and shopping malls. Objects like chairs and trash are spread out on the floor.

The government also said that the area called the northern New Territories may experience flooding. This area is next to China. This warning came after the nearby city of Shenzhen announced it would let water out from a reservoir.

The heavy rains in Shenzhen broke many city records for the most rain in two hours, three hours, six hours, and 12 hours. These records had not been broken since 1952.

to 5 a. mon May 20, which broke the record of the heaviest rainfall in a single day in the city’s history. Thursday until 6 in the morning. State media reported that on Friday, kindergartens, primary and secondary schools were closed. There was a problem with transportation there, and they had to stop running six subway lines.