Hundreds of parents have criticised Hong Kong’s weather forecaster after children were required to attend school during heavy downpours, with many complaining of flooded streets and difficult commutes even after the year’s first red rainstorm warning was downgraded.
The Observatory issued the red rainstorm signal at 2.40am on Thursday as intense rainbands battered the city, followed by a flooding alert for the northern New Territories.
The middle-tier warning, which is issued when rainfall exceeding 50mm (two inches) per hour has fallen or is expected, was downgraded to an amber alert at 5.15am. It was cancelled at 9.30am.
According to Education Bureau guidelines, if the red or black rainstorm warning is issued between 5.30am and 6am, morning and whole-day schools must suspend classes for the entire day. However, classes should proceed when the amber alert is in force.
More than 700 users took to the Observatory’s Facebook page to criticise its decision, as heavy downpours and flooding wreaked havoc in the northern New Territories.
“I kept an eye on the weather all night, only for them to switch to an amber rainstorm warning at the last minute – you’ve got to be kidding me,” one user said.
Another parent noted it had been raining non-stop for 12 hours in Fanling, adding that even with rainboots, raincoats and large umbrellas, primary schoolchildren were still soaked on their way to class.
“Now they have to sit in school all day in soaking wet clothes, and they’re definitely going to catch a cold,” the social media user wrote.
Another said the forecaster had issued a red warning when heavy rain hit Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, but the amber alert had been maintained for hours in the New Territories despite the downpour.
“Proving once again that the Observatory has two sets of standards for Hong Kong Island and the New Territories,” they said.
The first red rainstorm warning of the year often arrives in May, marking the start of the rainy season that runs until September.
Last year, the Observatory issued 16 red rainstorm warnings, four times the number in 2024.
In the early hours of Thursday, emergency crews worked around the clock using high-capacity drainage robots known as “water-pumping dragons” to clear widespread flooding in the northern New Territories.
The forecaster explained that heavy showers and squally thunderstorms associated with upper-air disturbances were persistently affecting the Pearl River Delta.
More than 50mm of rain fell across many areas in the morning, with the amount exceeding 100mm in Tsuen Wan, Kwai Tsing, Tai Po and Sai Kung, the forecaster said.
“With the upper-air disturbances departing from the coastal areas, showers will ease off, and the weather will improve [on Friday],” it said.
Video clips and photos posted on the social media platform Threads show a KMB double-decker bus ploughing through severe flooding along Ping Che Road in Fanling.
The water level rose so high that it caused muddy floodwater to surge onto the lower deck. A woman was seen taking off her shoes and opening her umbrella before stepping out of the vehicle into the water.
A private car and a New Territories taxi were also spotted half-submerged, with firefighters at the scene.
The Drainage Services Department said it had dispatched more than 60 emergency response teams to clear inundated areas.
It had recorded seven flooding cases across the New Territories as of 5am, including at the Tai Tau Leng Roundabout, Fan Kam Road, Ping Che in Fanling and the Fanling Highway.
The Kwu Tung area, the Po Shek Wu pedestrian underpass on Choi Yuen Road in Sheung Shui, and Shek Kong Airfield Road were also affected.
“All locations have been cleared by the Drainage Services Department’s emergency response teams, with the help of high-capacity drainage robots known as water-pumping dragons,” a spokesman said.
“As the weather remains unstable, the department will continue to work closely with the Observatory and the Highways Department, remain on high alert and quickly dispatch emergency teams to handle any further flooding.” -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
