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Drainage workers rescue a driver stranded due to flooding during heavy rain in Hong Kong on September 8, 2023.
Hong Kong CNN –
Record-breaking rains paralyzed much of Hong Kong on Friday, with flash floods inundating subway stations and stranding motorists on the streets, while authorities closed schools and urged the public to seek safe shelter.
Photos and videos showed residents wading through murky brown floodwaters as heavy rain continued to fall. In some low-lying areas, roads turned into torrents, forcing authorities to rescue motorists trapped in their vehicles.
The flooding began late Thursday evening, with the Hong Kong Observatory recording rain of more than 158 millimeters (6.2 inches) between 11 p.m. and midnight, the highest hourly rainfall since records began in 1884, the government said in a news release .
Nearly 500 mm (19.7 inches) of rain fell in some parts of the densely populated city of 7.5 million in 24 hours, according to online weather data site OGimet.
Tyrone Siu/Portal
Vehicles sank in a flooded parking lot in Hong Kong on September 8, 2023.
The extreme conditions surprised many residents and came just days after Hong Kong was hit by its strongest typhoon in five years.
Typhoon Saola, originally a super typhoon, weakened to the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane as it hit Hong Kong last weekend – but was still strong enough to knock down trees and cause hundreds of flight cancellations. According to the government, 86 people were injured by the typhoon.
Friday’s flooding again caused widespread traffic and business disruption across the financial hub, as the stock market canceled morning trading and all schools remained closed for the day. On Friday, authorities appealed to companies to allow non-essential employees to stay home or seek safe accommodation, citing unsafe travel conditions.
Stuart Hargreaves, a resident and professor in Hong Kong, had to spend the night in his car after getting stuck driving home late Thursday. The flooded roads are “impassable,” he said; At one point, “water was running down the hood of the car and I thought it was going to flood the engine.”
Several other cars were also submerged and were “floating” nearby, he said. He managed to park in a safe place, but there was no way out – he was stuck until dawn. When he managed to drive home nine hours later, the road was “filled with rocks from landslides, debris from trees, abandoned cars and so on,” he said.
Tyrone Siu/Portal
A shopping mall is flooded during heavy rain in Hong Kong on September 8, 2023.
The government said on Friday that these “extreme” conditions, including “widespread flooding, traffic disruptions and a high risk of landslides”, are expected to last until at least 6pm
The city’s local railway said it would suspend operations on one of its lines after a train station in Wong Tai Sin district was flooded. Widespread footage has been shared on the internet showing the flood water pouring down the stairs. Another video shows workers at another station standing in water up to their knees as they struggle to keep the flooding at bay at the entrance.
While most other subway services remained open, all major bus, tram and ferry services were suspended, according to public broadcaster RTHK. Several roads were also closed due to the threat of landslides.
The city remains subject to the highest “black” rain warning issued Thursday evening. At the time, the official weather office urged people to stay indoors and seek shelter, and urged residents near rivers to consider evacuating.
Tyrone Siu/Portal
A bus drives through a flooded area in Hong Kong on September 8, 2023.
Videos from Thursday evening show floodwaters entering the first floors of some buildings and shopping centers, with chairs and debris strewn on the ground.
The government also warned that its northern New Territories district, which borders mainland China, “may be at risk of flooding” after the neighboring city of Shenzhen said it would release water from a reservoir.
According to Chinese state media, the rainfall in Shenzhen also broke several rainfall records in the city, including maximum rainfall records for periods of two, three, six and 12 hours that have stood since 1952.
In Shenzhen, 469 millimeters (about 18.5 inches) of rain fell from 5 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday, with kindergartens, primary and secondary schools closed on Friday, state media reported. There were also traffic delays there, and six subway lines were closed.