1966 Rainstorm | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

1966 Rainstorm

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Submitted by Klaus on Sat, 2021-04-24 17:24

Total rainfall: 495 mm

Deaths: 64

Source: http://www.hko.gov.hk/publica/gen_pub/WeatheringTheStorm-2.pdf

Rainfall on 1966-06-

11th : 78 mm
12th : 383 mm
13th : 34 mm

Between 11 and 13 June 1966, heavy rainstorms resulted in 64 deaths, 48 persons missing, and 29 injured. The number of affected people amounted to 6,183 and the affected areas included Tsuen Wan, Tai Po, Castle Peak, Yuen Long, the outlying islands, Shau Kei Wan, Aberdeen, Causeway Bay, Kennedy Town and Ngau Tau Kok in Kowloon. The situation was more serious on Hong Kong Island. In the Aberdeen area alone, 1,200 people were affected. 58 In the New Territories, particularly in Tai Po and Yuen Long, farmland was seriously damaged. According to newspapers, 95% of the paddy fields and 50% of the vegetable fields in Tai Po were flooded and destroyed. In Yuen Long, 35% of the rice fields were flooded. As agricultural products suffered severe losses, food prices rose accordingly.

See also:1966 Peak Road landslide

Film on Youtube by British Pathé: Floods And Landslides, Many Dead (1966)

Date(s) of events described: 
Saturday, June 11, 1966 to Monday, June 13, 1966
Tags: 
rainstorm

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Comments

Submitted by Klaus on Sat, 2021-04-24 23:37.

David, what about adding rainstorms to the typhoon timeline? And then renaming to Natural Disasters in Hong Kong?

Submitted by David on Mon, 2021-05-03 14:34.

I'd like to keep a timeline of typhoons, as they're such major events in Hong Kong's history.

We could have a master page for Natural Disasters in Hong Kong which links to the various-categories.

Then we could have another timeline for Other natural disasters, where we put this rainstorm and any other non-typhoon disasters. If any new category such as rainstorms gathers say 5 or more events, they can then be moved out to their own timeline.

Will that work for what you want to do?

Submitted by Stewart Sloan on Mon, 2021-05-10 09:36.

I was a student at KGV when the rainstorm hit. I recall I was at my Dad's farm on Lantau when it started. The schools were closed for a week, which I thought was great, but then the Education Department deducted a week from the summer vacation to make up for it, which wasn't so great.

Submitted by Klaus on Mon, 2021-06-07 21:12.

Hi David,

sorry, didn't see your reply until today. 

I fully understand that you want to keep the category typhoons "clean". My thoughts were just to have categories that also give a timeline for other severe natural impacts. As far as I see it, we only have two rainstorms listed (1926 and 1966); more candidates for "Other Natural Disasters" could be landslides. e.g. Po Shan landslide (although severe, but only local and possibly not to be added like fires - Shek Kip Mei).

Anyway, it's not urgent and can be discussed further when you have finished the upgrade work.

Regards, Klaus

Submitted by David on Fri, 2021-06-11 11:19.

Thanks Klaus, we'll discuss again after the upgrade.