Eric Chan defends Hong Kong’s ‘holistic’ mechanism for extreme weather events

Hong Kong’s No 2 official has defended the city’s “holistic and effective” mechanism in handling extreme weather, after thousands of Hongkongers expressed frustration over getting caught in heavy rain during their Tuesday morning commute.

Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki also addressed on Wednesday criticisms of the steering committee on handling extreme weather, which he chairs.

Some questioned why the committee failed to convene and make any “advance preparations” this time, but Chan argued that predicting sudden downpours was much more difficult than forecasting typhoons.

“As the [Hong Kong] Observatory has explained, the rainstorm developed quickly and concentrated in certain areas, making it difficult to form a clear prediction,” he told reporters after attending a closed-door meeting with lawmakers.

The weather forecaster issued a red rainstorm signal at 8.40am and soon escalated it to the highest-level warning at 9.10am. The black rainstorm warning was in force for about two hours.

Many residents were also caught in the deluge on their way to work, with some areas hit with more than more than 100mm (3.9 inches) of rainfall in an hour.