Key facts
- A severe rainstorm and subsequent flooding in Hong Kong on June 11-12, 1966, resulted in at least 64 fatalities.
- The storm triggered 78 landslides, destroying homes and blocking roads.
- Over 600 residents were displaced by the disaster.
- Journalists John A. Stuart and Kevin William Murphy were among those killed.
- The Royal Observatory recorded 15.06 inches of rain in 24 hours, with one hour experiencing the heaviest rainfall since 1884.
A catastrophic rainstorm struck Hong Kong on June 11-12, 1966, unleashing torrential downpours and causing severe flooding and landslides that claimed at least 64 lives. The deluge, described as one of the worst in the city's history, left over 600 people homeless and injured 33.
Journalists John A. Stuart, 31, and Kevin William Murphy, 24, were among the victims, having been swept away while attempting to cross a flooded Magazine Gap Road. The rainfall was unprecedented, with 15.06 inches recorded in the 24 hours leading up to midnight on June 12. The Royal Observatory noted that the rainfall between 7 am and 8 am on June 12 was the heaviest ever recorded for any month since observations began in 1884.
Streets transformed into raging torrents, carrying vehicles away, while landslides crashed into residential areas, destroying homes. Underground sewers overflowed, adding to the chaos with geysers of floodwater erupting into already inundated streets.