Hong Kong braces for more floods
( 2001-06-10 14:20 ) (7 )

Rescue workers hoist a boy onto a helicopter as they evacuate villagers trapped by flood waters at Tin Ping Shan village in northern Hong Kong June 9, 2001. The territory continues to be hit by heavy rains and thunderstorms as thunderstorm warning has been hoisted by the Observatory with squalls and more flooding are expected. More than 300 millimetres of rain were recorded since Saturday. [Reuters]

Hong Kong braced for more flooding chaos Sunday, after 5 straight days of torrential rains swamped outlying areas and rescue helicopters plucked villagers from rooftops.

There were 26 major floods across the territory Saturday after 300 millimetres (eight inches) of rain fell on northern areas, the Hong Kong Observatory said.

In some villages in the New Territories near Shenzhen, residents were seen wading in chest-level waters as they tried to flee their flooded homes.

Government helicopters winched 26 people to safety from the villages, while another 113 people were ferried to safety in boats, officials said.

Thirteen needed hospital treatment, they said.

The rains have caused 13 landslides across the territory, but no casualties were reported, the officials said.

The waters also temporarily cut off the Man Kam border crossing with China, causing minor car accidents and traffic jams, they said.

Hong Kong has had a week of unusually stormy weather, with rainfall reaching near record levels for the past decade, the Observatory said.

Meterologists were quoted in local news reports as saying the forecast for another three days of rain meant the worst could be yet to come.

The same torrential weather caused a series of landslides in China's southern provinces earlier this week that killed at least 13 people, according to state media.