South China Morning Post photographers have raced to capture Hong Kong's defining moments in the years since the newspaper hit the streets. In this, the publication's centenary year, our researchers are trawling the archives to illustrate a forthcoming book celebrating 100 years of history as seen through the camera lens. Post Magazine provides a preview of some of the most spectacular images.
September 27, 1993: farmland near Sheung Shui in the New Territories lies under water after the deluge from Typhoon Dot caused havoc across Hong Kong. On the worst day of the three-
day storm there were 63 reports of landslides, which caused the evacuation of a residential block, road closures and the clearance of squatter settlements. About 30 of the slides affected roads and footpaths, 15 occurred next to buildings and 18 forced squatters to flee.
The worst-affected area was Mid-Levels, which was hit by 640 millimetres of rain. And residents were ordered out of Allway Gardens in Tsuen Wan when a mudslide damaged a gas pipe.
The government criticised the public for not taking preventative measures, such as unblocking drains, to help stop landslides. 'Our campaign is still not working,' said principal geotechnical engineer Andrew Malone. 'We're not satisfied with how far the message has gone and we realise now we have to reinforce the campaign. It's not the government's responsibility to go into private homes and maintain them for people. But it is our job to educate them and we'll take another look at the way we're doing that.'
At the time the government was in the process of assessing the territory's 10,000 slopes, of which only about 300 had been fortified. Reservoirs were already more than 90 per cent full after September rains of 655mm, an unprecedented total that followed the previous September's 61.9mm.
