Hong Kong was brought to a halt as the metropolis and other parts of southern China were hit with record rainfall Thursday and Friday.
Two deaths were reported in Hong Kong and 110 people have been evacuated, while 20 were injured, according to the city’s police and fire service. Police said two bodies were found floating in different parts of the city.
Over 600 mm of rain has been recorded so far, a quarter of the city’s annual average rainfall. Nearly a third of that fell in one hour Thursday night, between 11 p.m. and midnight, according to the Hong Kong Observatory, breaking the record for most rain in an hour since recording began in 1884.
Meanwhile, more than 11,000 were evacuated from Meizhou in Guangdong province, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Trains and flights have been suspended in the province as some roads have been blocked due to several landslides, the report said.
Hong Kong’s public transport was heavily disrupted Friday, according to authorities, as some stations got flooded. Bus service also stopped, while schools and the stock exchange were closed. Some cars got stuck in the flooded streets, and rescue services used rafts to move about.
Schools also closed in Shenzhen, which saw 469 mm of rain, the heaviest rainfall since recording began for the city in 1952, according to CCTV.
The rain also spread north to Beijing, which issued a flood disaster warning for several districts as it expected heavy rain into Saturday night.
The rain has been caused by low pressure from a recent typhoon, according to the observatory. Some have criticized Hong Kong’s response to the rain, but the city’s No. 2 official, Eric Chan, said it was not as predictable as other extreme weather, such as a typhoon.
— with files from the Associated Press.
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