Hong Kong deploys ‘water-pumping dragon’ machines to clear flooding after heavy rainfall

“Hong Kong authorities have deployed powerful machines known as “water-pumping dragons” to clear flooding after the city’s northern territories were hit by heavy rainfall overnight. The Drainage Services Department deploys a powerful machine known as the “water-pumping dragon” to clear flooding on May 20, 2026. Photo: Drainage Services Department. The Drainage Services Department said on social media early on Thursday that its teams had cleared seven instances of flooding in the northern part of the New Territories using the devices, which authorities procured from mainland China last year due to more frequent extreme downpours. The Observatory issued the red rainstorm warning at 2.40am due to heavy rain in the city’s border areas near Shenzhen, especially in Sheung Shui, Ta Kwu Ling, and Sha Tau Kok. A special landslide warning was also issued. The rainstorm signal was downgraded to amber at 5.15am and eventually cancelled at 9.30am. The weather services warned of the risk of river flooding. The heavy rain was associated with “upper-air disturbances… persistently affecting the vicinity of the Pearl River Estuary,” the Observatory said on Thursday. “Locally, more than 50 millimetres of rainfall were recorded over widespread areas this morning, and rainfall even exceeded 100 millimetres over many parts of the New Territories,” it added. The flooding was concentrated in Sheung Shui and Fanling, while the Shek Kong Airfield Road was also affected, according to the Drainage Services Department. An emergency control centre was activated at 9.45pm on Wednesday, and 90 response teams were deployed to inspect and clear flooding, the department said. Images and videos of severe flooding went viral on social media platforms. Clips posted on Threads show floodwater entering a bus in Ping Che and a taxi trapped on the road. Screenshot of a video shows floodwater entering a bus in Ping Che in Hong Kong in the early hours of May 20, 2026. Photo: t_tsuntsun, via Threads. Screenshot of a video shows a taxi trapped in floodwater in Ping Che, Hong Kong, in the early hours of May 20, 2026. Photo: t_tsuntsun, via Threads. Last year, after the city hoisted the black rainstorm warning four times within a week, a former Observatory official warned that extreme weather would become more frequent due to the climate crisis.

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