HONG KONG: Hong Kong issued its highest rainstorm warning, effectively closing down the city, just over a week after a typhoon downed trees in the financial centre.
The local observatory hoisted the black rainstorm alert at 9.10am local time on Tuesday. More than 100mm (3.9 inches) of hourly rainfall was recorded, according to the observatory. Local media reported some underground railway exits were shut due to the rain.
The torrential downpour comes as Hong Kong is still clearing up from Typhoon Wipha, which passed just to the south of the city on July 20, prompting the observatory to raise hurricane signal No. 10, its highest.
Tuesday’s rain is the most intense since October 2023, when record rainfall flooded the financial hub’s streets and sent torrents of water rushing through subway stations.
Showers are particularly heavy over the southside of Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island, the observatory said Tuesday, attributing the conditions to a broad trough of low pressure.
Heavy rain earlier led to 30 deaths in Beijing as eastern and central parts of China face more wild weather. China’s weather agency forecast more heavy rain over the next three days in parts of the country, including Beijing, eastern Fujian and Shanghai.
Under a Hong Kong black rainstorm warning, residents are advised to remain where they are until conditions improve, while public transport can be limited.
Despite Tuesday’s rains, Hong Kong is experiencing a much drier than normal year, with the city recording about two thirds of the average rainfall. Hong Kong is part of just 7% of cities flipping toward a more extreme dry climate, according to an in-depth study released in March by WaterAid, an NGO.
Hong Kong’s weather has been breaking records as temperatures rise.
Last year was the city’s warmest year since the city started keeping data in 1884. In November there were four tropical cyclones occurring concurrently over the western North Pacific and South China Sea - a first for that month since 1961.
One of those, Toraji, triggered Hong Kong’s first No. 8 storm warming for November in almost 80 years. - Bloomberg
