Hong Kong was left reeling on Tuesday after blackened skies unleashed a historic deluge, bringing the heaviest August rainfall since records began in 1884 and causing widespread disruption across the city and its neighboring high-tech regions in South China’s Pearl River Delta.
By 2 p.m. local time, more than 350mm (13.8 inches) of rain had fallen, according to the Hong Kong Observatory. The unprecedented downpour led authorities to extend the highest-level “black” rainstorm warning until 5 p.m., as flash floods surged through streets and staircases, transforming the city’s steep, multi-tiered landscape into torrents of white-water.
Video footage circulating online captured dramatic scenes of water cascading down hillsides and flooding major thoroughfares. Outside Queen Mary Hospital, the city’s largest medical facility, floodwaters rose to ankle height, prompting health authorities to shut down outpatient clinics across the city.
Schools, law courts, and businesses were also forced to close, as officials grappled with the storm’s impact on transport, infrastructure, and public safety.
The extreme weather comes amid a wave of devastating floods across southern China in recent weeks, with meteorologists linking the intensity and frequency of such storms to climate change. Experts warn that global warming is amplifying the East Asian monsoon, which has stalled across northern and southern China since early July, unleashing prolonged periods of torrential rain and atmospheric instability.
In neighboring Guangdong province, five people were killed over the weekend in flash floods, prompting an emergency response involving over 1,300 rescuers. As of Tuesday, four rivers in the region had swelled to dangerous levels, sparking fears of possible levee breaches, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The chaos extended as far as northern China. In Inner Mongolia, a tornado touched down on Monday, while authorities in Beijing were on high alert for further flooding.
With climate volatility rising across the region, the latest storm has renewed calls for improved disaster preparedness, urban drainage systems, and regional coordination to mitigate the growing toll of extreme weather events.
Written By Rodney Mbua
