After typhoon Haikui made landfall in the province of Fujian on Tuesday, torrential rain deluged Hong Kong on Friday leading to widespread flooding across the densely packed city, as authorities shut schools and asked workers to stay at home.
The city saw the highest hourly rainfall since records began 140 years ago. The Hong Kong Observatory reported rainfall of 158.1mm at its headquarters between 11pm on Thursday and midnight on Friday. This fell on ground already soaked from a super typhoon just a week before.
Cascades of water surged down steep hillsides, flooding was waist-deep in narrow streets, and malls, metro stations and tunnels were inundated.
The city was brought to a standstill with many services being suspended including ferries and passenger and cargo clearance points.
Heavy rain was also reported in neighbouring Shenzhen.