Hong Kong on Tuesday was drenched, as the city’s Observatory issued amber warning alerts three times in 15 hours. The hardest-hit areas were in the New Territories East, including Tai Po, Shatin and Sai Kung, which got more than 70 millimeters of rain in an hour in the morning.
Tai Mei Tuk was one of the areas in Tai Po that faced severe flooding.
Video footage on social media showed muddy water sweeping through various villages and residents walking in knee-deep floodwater. Many village houses, especially on the ground floor, were seen covered with up to a meter of muddy water.
Firemen were called to rescue some trapped villagers.
In Ting Kok Tsuen, several parked vehicles were soaked with floodwater, while a seven-seater vehicle parked in nearby Shan Liu Tsuen was washed into the river as water poured down from the hills.
The Observatory, which had maintained the thunderstorm signal almost throughout the day, raised the amber alert at 8:20am, 4:20pm and 10:45pm.
A spokesman for the Drainage Services Department said Tai Mei Tuk and Ting Kok faced severe flooding because drainage systems were blocked by fallen branches and stones. These blockages will be investigated and solutions found, Sing Pao reported.
