2023-09-08 10:05:18
September 8, 2023 10:01 am
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Rescuers rescue a driver on a flooded road
Hong Kong has recently been hit by the worst rainstorm in 140 years. Some southern Chinese mainland cities were also affected by heavy rains and struggled to cope with widespread flooding.
The Hong Kong Observatory recorded 158.1 millimeters of rainfall in one hour from 11 pm on Thursday (September 7) to early morning on Friday, which is the highest record in this special administrative region of China since relevant records were kept in 1884.
Some localized areas of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the northeastern New Territories have recorded more than 200 millimeters of rain since Thursday evening – a total that exceeds the amount of rainfall that the entire city typically receives in certain months.
The Hong Kong Observatory issued a black rainstorm warning signal on the evening of the 7th, and the SAR government issued an “extreme conditions” warning on the 8th, which will be maintained until at least 18:00.
Some citizens questioned the timeliness of the warning. However, the Hong Kong authorities stated that the predictability of heavy rains is different from that of typhoons, and they have issued warnings to the public as early as possible.
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On September 8, severe flooding occurred at Wong Tai Sin MTR Station in Hong Kong. A child was carried across the muddy ground.
city in heavy rain
Since the evening of the 7th, heavy rains have continued in Hong Kong for several hours, and many streets, shopping malls and subway stations in the city have been flooded.
Footage circulating on social media showed rain pouring down in many parts of Hong Kong, turning streets into fast-flowing rivers as people climbed onto vehicles and other elevated platforms in an attempt to escape the rising rain.
Waters like waterfalls appeared in some subway stations. Many commuters and walkers were stranded on streets flooded by rainwater into rivers. Some cars were trapped due to heavy rain failure or road failure.
The important undersea tunnel connecting Hong Kong Island to the northern Kowloon Peninsula was also flooded.
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The Hong Kong authorities issued the highest level black rainstorm warning at 11:05 pm on the 7th – a warning triggered by rainfall exceeding 70 millimeters per hour.
There were reports that many areas in Hong Kong were flooded at 11 p.m., and the warning issued by the government was not timely.
In this regard, Hong Kong government officials said that the warning of heavy rains is different from that of typhoons – the position and direction of typhoons can be observed through satellites, but the impact of heavy rains on specific areas is much harder to predict.
“Including where the rain will be and how big it will be, it is difficult to know much in advance,” Hong Kong Chief Secretary for Administration Chan Kwok-kee told the media on Friday.
“The characteristics of heavy rains are that they come quickly and develop very quickly. In many cases, they are beyond the scope of forecasting capabilities,” Hong Kong Meteorological Society spokesman Leung Wing-wu told BBC Chinese.
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On September 8, vehicles were stranded on a flooded road in Hong Kong.
Nearby cities affected by disaster
In addition to Hong Kong, heavy rains are also raging in southern China. The rainfall reported in Shenzhen, a mainland city adjacent to Hong Kong, broke the city’s four historical extremes since meteorological records began in 1952, and the city entered a state of emergency preparedness for heavy rain.
Shenzhen City announced that the reservoir water level was close to the flood limit and flood discharge began at 0:15 on the 8th.
Some people are worried that this may cause parts of northern Hong Kong to be flooded. However, the Hong Kong government only announced the news that Shenzhen would discharge floods at 11:44 pm. Some netizens pointed out that the time given to citizens to prepare was too short.
However, Hong Kong officials said on Friday that water levels in Hong Kong’s rivers have not risen above the seawall due to Shenzhen’s flood discharge, and there are no serious flooding in nearby areas. Therefore, many flooding conditions in Hong Kong have nothing to do with Shenzhen’s flood discharge.
In Guangdong province, where hundreds of flights were suspended, local authorities warned of possible flash flooding and advised residents in low-lying areas to consider evacuating. Tens of millions of people live in densely populated areas along China’s southern coast.
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On September 8, a motorist drove through floods on Lantau Island, Hong Kong.
Disaster continues
On the morning of the 8th, the Hong Kong authorities announced that schools would be closed for the whole day, the stock market was suspended, and workers were urged not to set off for work unless necessary.
The authorities said they had received at least 20 reports of landslides. The Hong Kong Hospital Authority stated that as of noon on the 8th, at least 110 people had been injured and sent to hospital during the “black rain”, four of whom were in serious condition.
Heavy rains have also blocked some roads and affected the operation of public transportation such as buses and subways.
Local media in Hong Kong reported that some people believed that the government’s response had “failed.”
Chan Kwok-kee said at a press conference on Friday: “The Observatory has issued different rain warnings at different times, and they have been continuously added. The public should have a clear idea of how far the situation is and how fast it changes. They did not check it very early in advance.”
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Landslides occur in some places in Hong Kong
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An underground parking lot was flooded
Why do black rainstorms occur?
The Hong Kong Weather Observatory stated that the black heavy rain was due to the influence of a low pressure trough related to the remnants of Typhoon Haikui. Heavy rains have occurred along the coast of Guangdong, China since the 7th.
This downpour occurred less than a week after two typhoons, “Saola” and “Haigui”, hit southern China and nearby areas within a short period of time.
Meteorological experts say this is a concentrated reflection of the extreme weather caused by global warming.
Liang Rongwu pointed out that meteorological factors such as the active southwest monsoon in the South China Sea and the diffusion high in the atmosphere were the direct causes of this heavy rain. However, the rainfall that broke the 140-year record shows the impact of climate change.
Global warming directly leads to faster evaporation, causing more moisture in the air to become more intense rainfall when conditions are suitable, which in turn increases the intensity and frequency of tropical storms, leading to more flash floods and greater damage.
“Climate change provides good conditions for heavy rains to become more extreme,” Liang Rongwu said.
He pointed out that under global warming, weather will become more extreme. This is already a conclusion in the scientific community. Hot weather will increase exponentially. Although the frequency of heavy rains will not increase as much as hot weather, “heavy rains are quite destructive.” .
He said that similar effects of extreme weather have been shown in different places. For example, heavy rains in Beijing in August killed 33 people.
“Beijing is a relatively arid place, but it rained for almost half a year in one day. These are reflections of extreme weather conditions,” he said.
image copyrightDANIEL CENG/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
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After heavy rain in Hong Kong, a car fell into a hole caused by road subsidence and was towed away.
Some netizens reported that Hong Kong’s response to Thursday’s heavy rain warning was slow. Hong Kong officials also said that the heavy rain also exceeded the capacity of the city’s road drainage system, resulting in flooding.
Liang Rongwu said he would not comment on the government’s response measures, but said that forecasting extreme weather is very difficult with today’s technology.
“The point I want to emphasize is that this incident tells us that Hong Kong and the whole world are not prepared to deal with extreme weather,” he said.
“The pace of weather deterioration may exceed the progress of science and technology – we now use better technology to do predictions and defenses, but all our work may be ruined by more extreme weather in the future.”
He said that currently we can only “treat the symptoms”, which is to reduce carbon emissions as much as possible to prevent extreme weather from worsening.
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