(Hong Kong) Hong Kong was hit for an hour by the worst rainfall ever recorded in the financial metropolis, causing flooding early Friday morning and disrupting road and rail traffic, less than a week after the passage of a super typhoon .
Published at 10:40 p.m.
The Hong Kong Observatory, the city’s meteorological agency, reported rainfall of 158.1 millimeters at its headquarters between 11 p.m. and midnight local, the highest level seen since records began in 1884.
No injuries were immediately reported.
Authorities announced the closure of schools “due to extreme conditions” as well as certain customs services on the border between the city and the technological center of Shenzhen.
PHOTO MLADEN ANTONOV, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Hong Kong authorities say Shenzhen is preparing to release water from its reservoirs, which could lead to flooding in parts of northern Hong Kong.
The operator of the underground transport network announced that it was partially suspending its services on one of its lines after the flooding of a station in the Wong Tai Sin district. Other stations are also affected.
On several roads, cars and buses were half submerged.
According to the Hong Kong Observatory, the torrential rains were caused by the “trough of low pressure associated with the rest of Haikui.”
Typhoon Haikui swept through Taiwan at the start of the week, injuring around a hundred people, uprooting trees and damaging roads, before heading towards southern China, downgraded to a storm.
Southern China was hit last weekend by two successive typhoons, Saola and Haikui.
Climate change has increased the intensity of tropical storms, with more rain and stronger gusts leading to flash flooding and coastal damage, experts say.
