And Me Without an Ark
In Hong Kong, the average rainfall for June is 376mm.
This year that much rain fell in just one day: about eight hours in a non-stop downpour. The city ground to a halt as flooding swamped streets and landslides brought down mud and rocks.
Two people were killed when a 20-tonne section of retaining wall gave way onto a hillside hut in which they were sleeping. More than 420mm of rain fell on Tung Chung and 300mm on Mui Wo on Lantau Island, while Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island received 320mm. Sha Tin was hit with 200mm in the same period.
The North Lantau Highway was blocked by waterfalls, and more than 400 flights were delayed, with 14 cancelled.
The Hong Kong Observatory said the deluge set a new record for hourly rainfall (since records began in 1884): 145.5 mm between 8am and 9am. The previous mark was 115.1mm in July 2006.
The water was waist-deep in low-lying Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan - a flooding black spot. Water cascaded into dried-seafood shops.
Firemen rescued people trapped aboard minibuses that broke down in 70cm deep water in Wan Chai, and carried people through a river of water coursing down Tai Hang Road.
In Pok Fu Lam village, 38 people were evacuated when their homes flooded. Boys ... and a ... woman needed hospital treatment for scratches and bruising after rocks and mud washed into their house.
A newspaper vendor in Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen, said the area suddenly flooded at 6.30am. "The water came very fast. It was flooded within five minutes. There was thigh-deep water."
On Hill Road in Western, a flight of steps turned into a waterfall as rain cascaded down it. A tram was derailed when sand and gravel was washed onto the tracks in Des Voeux Road West.
I was at home waiting for a taxi to arrive when the Black Rainstorm warning was issued; when I called to cancel the driver had just arrived. He was upset and I felt bad, but if I had gone out I would have been drenched before I reached the car, even with an umbrella. It was unrealistic to expect me to go out in those conditions, and he'd have zero difficulty finding a new passenger in dire need of a lift.
I couldn't have gone out even if I wanted to; when Black Rain hits, the footpath crossing the small river near our house disappears under a raging torrent of white water. I was amazed at the never-ending curtain of water that sometimes fell so thick it was like being inside a cloud.
One wonders if all this rain at once means the rest of June will be sunny and dry.
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