Two people were injured outside a construction site at a Hong Kong public hospital in Kwun Tong after a water pipe burst during an amber rainstorm warning on Saturday morning, flooding a road and leaving passers-by stranded.
The Transport Department said in the afternoon that part of the Shun Lee Estate-bound lanes of Sau Mau Ping Road and the slow lane of Hip Wo Street in the direction of Kwun Tong Road remained closed to traffic.
Police received reports at around 9am that a water pipe had burst with about 10 people trapped near Hip Wo Street and Hong Ning Road, near a construction site at United Christian Hospital.
“Later on, two women slipped on the ground and were injured,” the spokesman said, adding that the pair aged 26 and 59 were taken to the nearby hospital for treatment.
Online photos and footage showed water gushing out from the ground and flooding the road as rain poured down.
About nine people could be seen standing on a cement block outside the construction site to stay out of the water.
A photo also showed small-scale road subsidence near the site. Some plastic road barricades were seen sliding along the road in another video.
The Transport Department said traffic remained heavy near the site at around 4pm, with several bus routes being diverted.
Parts of Sau Mau Ping Road and Hip Wo Street were closed due to a burst water main and emergency road repair, the department said.
The Hong Kong Observatory issued an amber rainstorm warning at 9am, which was cancelled at 12pm.
A thunderstorm warning has been in force since 7.50am, with the forecaster at 3.45pm saying widespread heavy rain could hit the city.
“An active southwest monsoon is bringing showers and thunderstorms to the coast of Guangdong and the northern part of the South China Sea,” the forecaster said.
The weather is expected to be cloudy with showers and a few squally thunderstorms on Saturday night and Sunday.
“Showers will be heavy at times,” the Observatory said. “Temperatures will range between 27 and 30 degrees Celsius [80.6 to 86 Fahrenheit]. Moderate to fresh south to southwesterly winds, occasionally strong offshore and on high ground at first.”
Last September, a record-breaking rainstorm triggered flooding across the city, with drivers stranded in cars, restaurants flooded and landslides close to several housing estates.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu later said the government would spend HK$8 billion (US$1 billion) on projects to improve drainage in areas such as Wong Tai Sin, Hong Kong Island East and other areas hit hard by past floods.
The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong this week also identified 91 flooding black spots across the city, urging authorities to build short-term prevention facilities.
