(Yicai) Sept. 8 -- Hong Kong issued its highest ‘black’ rainstorm warning yesterday, urging people to stay indoors, as the special administrative region is battered by the heaviest hourly rainfall since records began, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Over 70 millimeters of precipitation has been dumped on Hong Kong every hour since yesterday evening, and the torrential downpour is likely to continue for some time, the Hong Kong Observatory said. The heavy rains are being brought by a low pressure trough formed after Typhoon Haikui passed through earlier this week

In some areas, the rainfall was even heavier. The site where the Observatory’s head office is located logged precipitation of 158.1 millimeters from 11 p.m. to midnight local time yesterday, the most since records started to be compiled in 1884.

And Kowloon, northeast New Territories and Hong Kong Island recorded over 200 millimeters at one point. Downpours are also affecting the coastal areas of southern Guangdong province.

Businesses, schools and transport services are experiencing severe disruptions as buildings, streets and metro stations flood. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange suspended trading this morning.

Rescue workers rescue an elderly man from a car trapped in the floodwaters.

Cars are submerged in an underground parking lot.

Waters lap shop shelves and restaurant tables on the first floor of a normally busy shopping mall.

A man stands knee-deep in water on a road surveying the damage.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor