Hong Kong employees reporting to duty despite black rain alert
發佈日期: 2025-08-05 20:03
TVB News
The Black Rainstorm Warning Signal was issued before 6 a.m. but that didn't stop some residents from heading to work.
Weather experts say Hong Kong's mountainous terrain helps facilitate the formation of rain bands during summer.
Come rain or storm, some Hongkongers still pressed on to clock in at work.
This hotel employee says it's about "love and duty" as the hotel still has to operate under the rainstorms. He added that the rain didn't seem as intense as last night, noting the rumbling thunder had kept him awake.
Another commuter says his boss told him that he could wait until the black alert was lifted, but he wants to help out at the company.
According to the government's revised Code of Practice in Times of Adverse Weather and Extreme Conditions, if the Black Rainstorm Warning Signal is issued before work starts, employers should not require their staff to report to work.
The guidelines also state that pay, bonuses, leave or holidays should not be affected by weather-related absences. Employers are reminded to prioritise safety of their workers.
Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan posted on social platforms around noon that under the heavy downpours, the government coordinated cross-departmental efforts to deal with the inclement weather conditions.
He said the government has a comprehensive contingency deployment mechanism and the Drainage Services Department dispatched 180 emergency response teams to clear blocked drains and inspect flooding black spots across town.
This latest bout of rainstorms began on Monday night with the Amber Rainstorm Warning Signal issued at around 9:45 p.m.
Within an hour, the observatory replaced it with the Red Rainstorm Warning Signal before elevating the warning to the highest black rainstorm alert at 11:45 p.m.
The downpours tapered off slightly in the early morning.
But after a two-hour lull, the rain picked up once more.
At 5:50 a.m., the observatory issued the fourth Black Rainstorm Warning Signal of the year, which also marks the fourth black rain alert in eight days.
CHOY CHUN-WING, Scientific Officer, HKO: "Until 2 p.m., 355.7 millimetres of rainfall has been recorded at the headquarters today, breaking the record of the highest daily rainfall in August since 1884."
Radar images show intense rain bands forming after midnight, moving from the southwest to the northeast.
By dawn, they had merged into long rain bands sweeping eastward towards Hong Kong.
Sai Kung, Kowloon East and Hong Kong Island were among the districts being pummelled the hardest, logging cumulative rainfall of 200 to 300 millimetres since midnight.
The northwestern New Territories and southwestern Lantau Island recorded 100 to 140 millimetres of precipitation.
Weather expert Leung Wing-mo says such persistent downpours are not uncommon in Hong Kong.
He explains that the city's mountainous terrain and southwesterly winds during summer make Hong Kong especially prone to heavy downpours.
He says when upper air disturbances diverge and pull surface air upwards, and the southwesterly monsoon hits mountain ranges such as Tai Mo Shan and Kowloon Peak, they can set off powerful rain clouds.
