Hong Kong yesterday was flooded by the heaviest rainfall in nearly 140 years, leaving the territory’s streets and some subway stations under water and forcing its schools to close.
Just across the border, authorities in China’s tech hub Shenzhen recorded the heaviest rains since records began in 1952.
Climate change has increased the intensity of tropical storms, experts say, with more rain and stronger gusts leading to flash floods and coastal damage.
Photo: Bloomberg
The heavy rains in Hong Kong started on Thursday and in the hour leading up to midnight, the territory’s weather observatory recorded hourly rainfall of 158.1mm at its headquarters, the highest since records began in 1884.
The Hospital Authority yesterday afternoon said that at least 110 people were hospitalized due to injuries, with four in serious condition.
A man was found unconscious off the shore of western Hong Kong Island and declared dead at hospital, although authorities were still investigating if the death was flood-related.
Hong Kong’s highest rainstorm warning level, “black,” was hoisted for a record-breaking 16 hours before being lowered at 3:40pm yesterday, with rainfall mostly easing by late afternoon.
“It’s absolutely shocking,” said Jacky, 52, who lives in the Wong Tai Sin District with his elderly parents. “I don’t remember floods ever being this bad in our district.”
“The bottom floor of the mall is completely flooded, the water level is higher than the storefronts ... it’s turned our day into chaos,” he added.
Authorities issued flash flood warnings, with emergency services conducting rescue operations in parts of the territory.
“Residents living in close proximity to rivers should stay alert to weather conditions and should consider evacuation” if their homes are flooded, the observatory said.
It also warned of potential landslides, telling motorists to “keep away from steep slopes or retaining walls.”
The observatory said it recorded more than 600mm of rainfall at its headquarters over 24 hours — roughly one-quarter of the territory’s annual average.
“It felt like the whole neighborhood was isolated by the floodwater. One of the underground car parks is totally under water,” said Olivia Lam, who lives on the eastern side of Hong Kong Island. “The water was almost waist-deep outside my building, and that’s not the worst [case] in the neighborhood.”
TECH EFFECT: While Chiayi County was the oldest region in the nation, Hsinchu county and city, home of the nation’s chip industry, were the youngest, the report showed Seven of the nation’s administrative regions, encompassing 57.2 percent of Taiwan’s townships and villages, became “super-aged societies” in June, the Ministry of the Interior said in its latest report. A region is considered super-aged if 20 percent of the population is aged 65 or older. The ministry report showed that Taiwan had 4,391,744 people aged 65 or older as of June, representing 18.76 percent of the total population and an increase of 1,024,425 people compared with August 2018. In June, the nation’s elderly dependency ratio was 27.3 senior citizens per 100 working-aged people, an increase of 7.39 people over August 2018, it said. That
‘UNITED FRONT’: The married couple allegedly produced talk show videos for platforms such as Facebook and YouTube to influence Taiwan’s politics A husband and wife affiliated with the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) were indicted yesterday for allegedly receiving NT$74 million (US$2.32 million) from China to make radio and digital media propaganda to promote the Chinese government’s political agenda and influence the outcome of Taiwan’s elections. Chang Meng-chung (張孟崇) and his wife, Hung Wen-ting (洪文婷), allegedly received a total of NT$74 million from China between 2021 and last year to promote candidates favored by Beijing, contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and election laws, the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office said. The couple acted as Beijing’s propaganda mouthpiece by disparaging Hong Kong democracy activists
EARLY ARRIVALS: The first sets of HIMARS purchased from the US arrived ahead of their scheduled delivery, with troops already training on the platforms, a source said The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said it spotted 35 Chinese military aircraft, including fighters and bombers, flying to the south of Taiwan proper on the way to exercises in the Pacific, a second consecutive day it has reported such activities. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not respond to a request for comment on the missions, reported just days before tomorrow’s US presidential election. The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Its arms sales to Taipei include a US$2 billion missile system announced last month. The MND said that from 9am yesterday,
A Control Yuan member yesterday said he would initiate an investigation into why the number of foreign nationals injured or killed in traffic incidents has nearly doubled in the past few years, and whether government agencies’ mechanisms were ineffective in ensuring road safety. Control Yuan member Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) said in a news release that Taiwan has been described as a “living hell for pedestrians” and traffic safety has become an important national security issue. According to a National Audit Office report released last year, more than 780,000 foreign nationals were legally residing in Taiwan in 2019, which grew to more than