The Government announced that classes of all schools, including evening schools, are suspended today due to “extreme conditions” caused by extensive flooding and serious traffic disruption and Chief Executive John Lee has instructed all departments to respond with all-out efforts.

The Labour Department (LD) reminded employers that all employees, other than essential staff, should not be required to report for duty at workplaces.

The trough of low pressure associated with remnants of Typhoon Haikui has brought torrential rain to the coast of Guangdong since last night.

The Hong Kong Observatory noted that from last night more than 70mm of rainfall was recorded in most parts of the city, and over 200mm was recorded in Kowloon, the northeastern part of the New Territories and Hong Kong Island.

The Observatory Headquarters recorded hourly rainfall of 158.1mm between 11pm last night and midnight, which was the highest record since 1884.

Such extreme conditions will continue until at least 6pm.

With due consideration to road and traffic conditions and other factors, the LD said employers should adopt a sympathetic and flexible approach while prime consideration should be given to employees' safety.

For employees who are not able to report for duty or resume work on time due to extreme conditions, employers should not withhold their wages, good attendance bonuses or allowances without reasons, and should not penalise or dismiss the employee concerned rashly, the LD added.

Mr Lee stressed that he is very concerned about the severe flooding in most parts of the city and has instructed all departments to respond with all-out efforts.

The Emergency Monitoring & Support Centre under the Security Bureau was activated at 11.05pm last night and the disciplined services are handling emergency requests.

A number of government departments, including the Drainage Services Department (DSD), the Highways Department (HyD) and the Home Affairs Department (HAD), are taking full response actions and going to the affected regions to deal with various scenarios.

As at 1am, the DSD received 12 confirmed cases of flooding. Forty emergency teams from the DSD and HyD attended to the flooded areas to handle flooding cases.

After the Black Rainstorm Warning Signal was issued at 11.05pm last night, the HAD swiftly activated its Emergency Co-ordination Centre. The first temporary shelter started operation at 11.35pm last night. As at 1am today, a total of 12 temporary shelters have been put into operation.

In response to water discharge from the Shenzhen Reservoir at midnight, the North District Office specially arranged vehicles before midnight to pick up villagers from six villages that may be affected by flooding and escort them to temporary shelters to ensure their safety.

Apart from urging members of the public to stay indoors and stay away from low-lying areas in an effort to safeguard their personal safety during such adverse weather, the Government encourages citizens to stay tuned to the latest warning messages issued by the observatory, the relevant departments and organisations.