Mr Chan, 43 and unemployed, has five children aged between two and 10 who arrived from the mainland less than a year ago.

'Rain was rushing into my house, and I was scared I would lose all my children, but firemen came to the rescue,' he said.

Another Tin Ping Shan villager, Wong Tsin Hei, 74, was alone at home when water flooded into her house.

'My husband is in hospital, and my family is on the mainland. I want to go back home to check on my cats,' she said.

Sunny Chan Chi-chung from Shek Wu San village said the water in his house was about 60cm deep. He complained that the Government had not warned residents that Shenzhen authorities had discharged reservoir water down the Shenzhen River into Hong Kong.

'Even only one or two hours' [warning] would help, at least we can get ready and expect what is going to happen,' he said.

However, the Government said it had received no complaints.

A woman from the Lung Fat restaurant in Ma Wan Chung on Lantau said: 'This is the worst flooding I have seen in many, many years.

'All my goods vans and cars were submerged and my warehouse has been inundated.

'I saw a bus outside the restaurant trapped in floods. There were about four people in the bus. Firemen arrived very quickly but it took them about two hours to rescue them.' Lantau resident Laura Buddle said: 'This morning, at around 6am, a neighbour came and was banging on my door. I looked out of the window and saw what is normally a field is now a lake.

'Neither I nor my neighbours have seen anything like this before. The path is impossible to walk as torrents of water have cut if off.'