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HONG KONG: Workers busy clearing a waterlogged road after heavy rain in Hong Kong on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. Heavy downpour overnight in Hong Kong and southern China left city streets and some subway stations flooded, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people and two deaths were reported in Hong Kong. According to officials, the death toll may further climbs.
According to the Guangdong Provincial Meteorological Bureau, Typhoon Haikui and monsoon have brought torrential rains to many cities and counties in the Pearl River Delta region since Thursday, causing urban flooding, landslides, road closures and other hazardous situations.
According to Hong Kong weather department, the extreme weather was expected to last until at least midnight, with widespread flooding and heavy disruptions to public transport in multiple districts. A video circulated on social media where it can be seen that workers cleaning the flooded streets.
An official from the Hong Kong observatory said the city had recorded over 600mm of rain so far — a quarter of the city’s average annual rainfall. The Hong Kong Observatory said it recorded 158.1 millimeters (6.2 inches) of rain in the hour between 11 p.m. Thursday and midnight, the highest recording for a single hour since records began in 1884.
The provincial disaster reduction commission raised the emergency disaster relief response to Level II at 6 p.m. on Friday, and 15 cities have initiated flood control emergency responses, Xinhua news agency reported.
Schools have been suspended across the cities of Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Jiangmen, and in some parts of Foshan, Dongguan and Guangzhou.
A total of 47 rail services have been suspended, and traffic controls have been implemented, including the closure of 79 road sections, six toll booths and a bridge.
According to report, quoting sources, heavy or exceptionally heavy rains will lash western parts of Guangdong and southern parts of the Pearl River Delta from Friday evening to Saturday.
