Sunday, June 8, 2008

Something not seen often (thank goodness!)


Flooding in the MTR!

The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is the crown jewel of Hong Kong's wonderful public transportation system -- which generally operates, unlike its Malaysian equivalents, with few glitches. It even continues to operate during adverse weather: e.g., even when a Typhoon 8 warning is in effect. I know this because I was in Hong Kong last year when a Typhoon 8 signal was raised. The 'funny' thing though is that although at the time the Typhoon 8 warnings got me pretty worried, the worst weather I may have encountered to date in Hong Kong was two nights ago and late into yesterday morning when a thunderstorm warning was in effect together with a black rainstorm warning.

What this translated into observable terms included lots of thunder, lightning and many inches plus centimeters of rain. And flooding... including in the Wan Chai MTR station! Fortunately, this was an isolated case and, also, one that occured near the surface (and one of the station exits, in fact). But, still... especially when it's considered that there are three different MTR routes that go under the significant body of water known as Victoria Harbour... :S

Update: For colorful confirmation and more details about the recent deluge, go over here.

2 comments:

sarah bailey knight said...

ytsl,

Oh my goodness!! At least you didn't need your bathing suit ;-)

YTSL said...

Hi sbk --

Good thing I didn't need my bathing suit -- haven't worn one in years, if not decades! ;D