A view of a flooded area after heavy rain in Hong Kong, China, Sept. 8, 2023. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo
Hong Kong closed schools on Thursday after authorities issued the second-highest rain signal and warned of extensive flooding, just days after the Asian financial hub was drenched by the heaviest rain since records began 140 years ago.
The city’s weather observatory issued the “red” signal before 6 a.m. local time, saying rain exceeding 50 millimetres in an hour is falling and likely to continue.
“Heavy rain will bring flash floods and flooding is occurring or expected to occur in watercourses,” it said.
Hong Kong’s stock market will remain open unless the highest “black” signal is issued.
The heavy rain comes as the city is still repairing damage caused by torrential rain linked to typhoon Haikui which passed nearby in recent days. Many areas of the mountainous city still have a high landslide risk after the unusually wet weather.
Some areas of the city such as Tsueng Kwan O and Sai Kung were still struggling with flooding from earlier in the week. A luxury house in the affluent Tai Tam area overlooking the ocean was ordered to be evacuated on Saturday due to risk of collapse.
The Asian financial hub of Hong Kong was drenched on Friday by the heaviest rain since records began 140 years ago, with 83 people hurt, three seriously, as unusually wet weather caused by typhoons brought more disruption to southern China.
Videos showed cascades of water surging down steep hillsides in the former British colony, flooding waist-deep in narrow streets, and inundating malls, metro stations and tunnels.
The extreme weather also brought chaos to the nearby Chinese city of Shenzhen, a tech hub of more than 17.7 million people, with business and transport links across the economically important Pearl River Delta severely hit.
The torrential rain was brought by Haikui, a typhoon that made landfall in the Chinese province of Fujian on Tuesday. Although it weakened to a tropical depression its slow-moving clouds have dumped huge volumes of precipitation on areas still soaked by rain from a super typhoon a week earlier.
Hong Kong’s weather bureau issued its highest “black” rainstorm warning, and said more than 200 mm (7.9 inches) of rain was recorded on Hong Kong’s main island, the Kowloon district and the northeastern part of the city’s New Territories from late on Thursday.
The city’s leader, John Lee, said he was very concerned about the severe flooding in most parts of the territory and had instructed all departments to respond with “all-out efforts”.
Hong Kong authorities shut schools on Friday and told workers to stay at home. The stock exchange did not open for morning trade and would remain shut in the afternoon if the “black” rainstorm warning remained in place at noon.
MTR Corp (0066.HK), which operates the city’s rail network, said at least one line was shut while others were operating with delays. One video clip showed metro workers wading waist-deep in a station.
The city’s cross-harbour tunnel, one of main arteries connecting Hong Kong island to Kowloon, was inundated and a shopping mall in the Chai Wan district was half-submerged.
Some passenger and cargo clearance operations at two border points between Hong Kong and Shenzhen were suspended due to flooding.
Macau ferry operators in Hong Kong said several sailings would be suspended to the gambling hub.
People make their way through a flooded area after heavy rains, in Hong Kong, China, September 8, 2023. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
GUANGDONG SWAMPED
The China Meteorological Administration said heavy rain would fall until early Saturday on the central and southwestern areas of Guangdong province.
All schools, some subway stations and offices in the Guangdong city of Shenzhen were shut on Friday.
Residents holding onto safety lines stepped gingerly through knee-deep water in the metropolis of 17.7 million people, videos from state media showed.
Rescuers cordoned off overflowing manholes, carried a child from a stranded vehicle and guided motorcyclists through the murky flows.
A rainfall log showed 465.5 mm (1.5 ft) of rain fell in Shenzhen over a 12-hour period, the highest since records began in 1952.
Daily rainfall in the city in the Pearl River Delta linking Hong Kong to China’s mainland was expected to exceed 500 mm, Shenzhen media said.
Videos showed both the exit and entry areas of the Shenzhen railway station were flooded, with trains connecting the city and the provincial capital of Guangzhou suspended. About 100 people were stranded at the station.
Residents walk past a shopping centre with its glass doors taped as a precaution against the approaching Super Typhoon Saola, early in the morning, in Hong Kong, on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. The Hong Kong Observatory raised a No. 8 typhoon signal, the third-highest warning under the city’s weather system, early Friday, and schools are suspended. (AP Photo/Daniel Ceng) (AP Photo/Daniel Ceng)
Super Typhoon Saola is poised to strike Hong Kong with its formidable force, as authorities have elevated the strong wind signal to No.8, prompting the closure of schools, businesses, and even the stock exchange.
This impending natural juggernaut, boasting wind speeds exceeding 200 kmph, is predicted to chart a course towards eastern Guangdong, the adjacent Chinese mainland province.
The impending typhoon has triggered the issuance of the highest typhoon alert by Chinese authorities, marking the potential for one of the most potent typhoons to hit Guangdong since 1949.
The Hong Kong Weather Observatory anticipates that Saola will pass within 100 km of the city on Friday (September 1) night and Saturday ((September 2) morning, ushering in a swift deterioration of weather conditions. With this in mind, there is a likelihood that higher cyclone warning signals may be deemed necessary as the day progresses.
Hong Kong’s typhoon warning system employs a five-tier scale, with rankings of 1, 3, 8, 9, and 10 indicating the strength of the hurricane signal. In preparation for Saola’s arrival, all schools will be closed on Friday, causing disruption to the start of the term for many students.
Citizens have flocked to fresh food markets and supermarkets in anticipation of the typhoon’s arrival, leading to depleted stocks of vegetables and long queues at supermarkets. As the city braces itself, the Hong Kong Observatory has projected heavy rainfall and fierce winds. The water level within the city is expected to surge considerably until Saturday, raising concerns about potential flooding.
Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flagship airline, has cancelled all flights between 2 pm on Friday and 10 am on Saturday, with the possibility of further disruptions contingent on the typhoon’s trajectory on Saturday morning.
A group founded to promote the use of Cantonese in Hong Kong has shut down after authorities raided its founder’s family home last week.
The government cited the controversial national security law and asked the foundation to take down a three-year-old short story.
The raid is seen as another erosion of freedom of expression in the city.
The group’s founder told the BBC that he decided to shut down the organisation on legal advice.
“My biggest concern is the safety of my family members and friends in Hong Kong. I found out that if I did not shut down the organisation, they could keep using the materials online, and harass the people I care about,” said Andrew Chan, 28, who teaches Chinese and Cantonese online.
Cantonese is a Chinese dialect spoken by an overwhelming majority of people on the island, as well as the Guangdong province in China.
Mr Chan founded the Hong Kong Language Learning Association with the mission to protect the “language rights of the Hong Kong people”.
Flashpoints between Hong Kong and mainland China usually revolve around language, identity, and differences in political convictions.
What did the short story say?
The fictional essay at the centre of the political storm is titled “Our Time” and was submitted by an independent author to a 2020 writing competition hosted by Mr Chan’s organisation and funded by the Hong Kong government.
It tells the story about a man who emigrated from Hong Kong to the UK with his parents in 2020 – the year the national security law was imposed. After the death of his parents in 2050, the man visits Hong Kong, only to find the city’s history scrubbed away by authoritarian rule.
The article ends with a phrase, “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.” It was written by the late Czech novelist Milan Kundera, whose many books usually contained themes around Czechoslovak Communism.
The officers wanted the short story on the association’s website to be taken down, failing which, they said, Mr Chan could be wanted by the national security department.
