HKFP Lens: Historic rains leave Hong Kong reeling, as city hit by second extreme weather event in a week
Unlike the previous week, when residents were given advance warning ahead of the arrival of Super Typhoon Saola, the deluge that began on Thursday night took many by surprise.
Hong Kong was bought to a standstill on Friday after more than 600 millimetres of rain, or about a quarter of the city’s annual average rainfall, fell within a 24-hour period.
It marked the second extreme weather event to hit Hong Kong within a week, but unlike the previous Friday, when residents were given advance warning ahead of the arrival of Super Typhoon Saola, the deluge that began on Thursday night took many by surprise.
Public transport and facilities were affected as the government raised its “extreme conditions” warning for the first time, although there was some confusion about what that meant for residents.
Hourly rainfall of 158.1 millimetres was recorded by the Observatory in the hour after the Black rainstorm warning signal was raised at 11 pm on Thursday, the highest since records began in 1884. The warning remained in place until 3.40 pm on Friday.