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Downpours inundate Hong Kong streets

A man wades through flooded streets after torrential rain in Hong Kong yesterday. Streets in Hong Kong were flooded by torrential rain, leaving two people feared trapped after a wall collapsed due to the downpour. The Hong Kong Observatory said more than 200mm of rain was dumped on the city overnight. PHOTO: AFP

Streets in Hong Kong were flooded by torrential rain yesterday, leaving two people feared trapped after a wall collapsed due to the downpour, media reports said.

The Hong Kong Observatory said more than 200mm of rain was dumped in the city overnight which experienced winds of up to 70kph.

Two people were rescued after a wall collapsed in the New Territories area of Hong Kong, but firemen were still trying to rescue two others believed trapped, local broadcaster RTHK said.

“Because of seriously flooded roads and inclement weather conditions, you are advised to take shelter in a safe place and stay there,” the Observatory said in a statement.

WINDOW HIGH

The downpour caused severe flooding across some streets of Hong Kong island, a reporter at the scene said.

Water was almost up to the windows of parked cars as people rolled up their trousers and waded through knee-deep floods in flip-flops.

Amid thunder and lightning people tried to continue their journey on foot as water flowed over pavements in the heavily hit western district of Sheung Wan.

“This is the heaviest rain I have seen in years,” said Edmund Kwan, an office worker, who was waiting for his girlfriend at the nearby MTR (Mass Transit Railway) station.

Shopkeepers stacked sandbags in an effort to keep their businesses watertight. Streets in the city’s Wan Chai business district were also under heavy water.

FLIGHT DELAYS

The rain caused several delays at Hong Kong’s International Airport on Lantau Island, one of the worst-hit spots in the territory, an Airport Authority spokeswoman said.

Passengers were advised to contact their airline for more information about their flights. The main road to the airport was closed because of flooding, RTHK said.

The city’s schools and courts were closed, while childcare centers and elderly services centers were closed to the public, the government said in a statement.

Hong Kong is regularly hit by severe rain and typhoons during the summer months.
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