By Zen Soo | Related Press
HONG KONG — Heavy rain in Hong Kong and southern China in a single day flooded metropolis streets and a few subway stations, with a whole lot evacuated and two deaths reported in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong authorities mentioned throughout a joint information convention Friday that the intense climate was anticipated to final till at the very least midnight, with widespread flooding and heavy disruptions to public transport in a number of districts.
An official from the Hong Kong observatory mentioned the town had recorded over 600mm of rain to date — 1 / 4 of the town’s common annual rainfall. The Hong Kong Observatory mentioned it recorded 158.1 millimeters (6.2 inches) of rain within the hour between 11 p.m. Thursday and midnight, the very best recording for a single hour since data started in 1884.
Hong Kong police mentioned that two our bodies had been discovered floating in waters in several components of the town. Town’s hearth companies division mentioned it had evacuated 110 folks and assisted 20 injured folks.
Town’s response to the rain and floods has drawn criticism from residents on-line, who questioned the authorities’ preparedness for such an emergency.
Hong Kong’s No. 2 official, Eric Chan, mentioned that the predictability of rainfall “can’t be in contrast with that of a storm.” He mentioned that numerous departments in Hong Kong had been working in a single day to deal with the state of affairs.
Movies circulating on social media present flooded streets in Hong Kong and close by Guangdong province, with autos driving by means of the water and rescue groups utilizing rafts to navigate the streets.
Water rushed down the steps and escalators of a flooded subway station in Hong Kong, and vehicles had been caught in muddy water on flooded streets, together with within the cross-harbor tunnel that connects Hong Kong Island with Kowloon.
The heavy downpours led Hong Kong and the mainland metropolis of Shenzhen to shut colleges, and nonessential employees in Hong Kong had been urged to remain house Friday. Most bus companies in Hong Kong had been halted.
The Hong Kong inventory change additionally didn’t open Friday.
On the mainland, greater than 11,000 folks had been evacuated from water-logged areas in Meizhou, a metropolis in Guangdong province, based on state broadcaster CCTV. Trains and flights had been suspended in Guangdong and a number of other landslides blocked roads the report mentioned.
Shenzhen’s complete rainfall was 469 millimeters (18.4 inches) — the heaviest rainfall since Shenzhen began meteorological data in 1952, CCTV mentioned.
Beijing issued a flood catastrophe warning for a number of districts of the Chinese language capital, forecasting heavy rainfall by means of Saturday evening.
Town observatory attributed Friday’s rain to a trough of low strain related to the remnants of a current storm.
