The local observatory issued its red rainstorm warning — the second-highest alert — at 5:55 a.m. on Thursday. Some parts of the financial hub, including densely populated parts of eastern Hong Kong island and Kowloon, received more than 150 mm of rain since midnight, according to the observatory.
Heavy rain is expected to continue for the next couple of hours, the observatory said in a statement published at 8:50 a.m. The current bad weather is caused by a trough of low pressure, according to the observatory, which forecast more rain on Friday and Saturday. The sole road to Shek O and Big Wave Bay, an area on Hong Kong island’s southside that’s popular among billionaires and expats, was closed again on Thursday after previously being affected by landslides and subsidence.The government, which faced criticism from the public over a lack of warning about the intensity of last week’s rain, has been working to repair roads and clean up the damage.