Hong Kong mother and child rescued from stranded car amid torrential rain in Sai Kung
Sai Kung hit by severe flooding and landslides after 102mm of rain recorded in just one hour
Firefighters rescued a 37-year-old expatriate woman and her son from a broken-down car amid torrential rain that lashed Sai Kung yesterday morning, causing severe flooding.
The vehicle was stuck in almost a metre of water on Tai Mong Tsai Road near Pak Tam Chung Holiday Camp in Sai Kung.
A police spokeswoman said the woman driver and her son were unhurt and their car was later towed away.
Their car was among several vehicles that broke down in the area.
According to the Observatory, 102mm of rain was recorded in Sai Kung between 8.45am and 9.45am, following downpours on Monday and Tuesday.
Police also said a three-storey retaining wall collapsed behind Hopes Villa off Tai Mong Tsai Road at about 10.30am. Sand and mud washed down from the hillside and blocked a section of the road. Firefighters were called in and no one was injured.
Pictures showed knee-high water covering roads in the Sai Kung area, particularly in Tai Mong Tsai.
西貢黃竹灣大塞
Posted by Kayeung Lung on Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Observatory scientific officer Tsoi Tze-shun said the torrential rainfall was very isolated, with western parts of the New Territories receiving only 10mm.
The Drainage Services Department said the Tai Mong Tsai Road roundabout was low-lying, though not a flood black spot. "Waste was washed into the drains, which then blocked and caused flooding," a department spokesman said.
He said discussions would be held with the Highways Department to see what preventative measures could be taken.
There were four reports of flooding and three reports of landslides in Sai Kung yesterday.
Former Observatory director Lam Chiu-ying, now director of the Countryside Foundation, said on his blog the phenomenon could have been caused by a range of factors such as the high relative humidity in Sai Kung, convergence from changing wind patterns and divergence in air at high altitudes.
He urged hikers to be careful and not to be misled into thinking that just because it was autumn the risk of torrential rains or flash floods was low. "With a clashing of cold and warm air, autumn is similar to spring, and can cause isolated showers too," he wrote.
Posted by Kayeung Lung on Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Relief is on the way though - autumn will finally arrive in Hong Kong over the weekend as temperatures fall to their lowest levels in months and the skies clear.
A monsoon surge over southeast China will bring cool weather to the city, according to the Observatory. Temperatures are forecast to fall to as low as 22 degrees on Sunday, with a maximum of 26, while humidity could drop to as low as 55 per cent.
Tsoi said the cool weather would continue on Monday before warmer temperatures returned around midweek.
"The northeast monsoon will arrive over the weekend, so it will bring with it the cool air from over China to our vicinity," he said.
While rain is forecast to continue to fall today, relatively drier weather is expected for the rest of the week.
Additional reporting by Ernest Kao and Lai Ying Kit.
