Regions in Asia and Europe witness the deluge

Unprecedented rains are falling in multiple areas around the world. New precipitation records are being set these days, and nature seems to have temporarily lost its bearings. From Hong Kong to Athens and from Istanbul to Shenzhen, it's raining as if it were the time of the deluge. In Hong Kong, the most abundant rainfall ever recorded in the financial metropolis fell on Friday morning, causing flooding and disrupting road and rail traffic, less than a week after Typhoon Haikui passed through, according to AFP. The Hong Kong Observatory, the city's meteorological agency, reported 158.1 millimeters of precipitation at its headquarters between 11:00 PM and midnight, the highest level since measurements began in 1884. No casualties have been reported.

Authorities announced the closure of schools "due to extreme conditions," as well as some customs services at the border between the city and the technological center of Shenzhen. The Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen (south), bordering Hong Kong, is experiencing torrential rains, the most intense ever recorded since meteorological records began in the area in 1952, according to official media. The underground transportation operator announced partial suspension of services on one of its lines after a station in the Wong Tai Sin district was flooded. Other stations are also affected.

On several roads, cars and buses were partially submerged.

Typhoon Haikui struck Taiwan earlier this week, injuring about 100 people and causing property damage before heading south to China, downgraded to a storm. Southern China has been hit by two successive typhoons, Saola and Haikui, with massive rainfall recorded.

Climate change has increased the intensity of tropical storms, with heavy rains and strong winds causing rapid flooding and damage in coastal areas, experts say. Greece received "600 to 800 millimeters of rain per square meter in 24 hours in Magnesia," in the center of the country, "an unprecedented phenomenon" in recent decades, said meteorologist Dimitris Ziakopoulos, according to AFP. "It appears that the mountainous region of the Magnesia prefecture received between 600 and 800 mm of rain in 24 hours," "an unprecedented phenomenon since the start of meteorological measurements in this country" in 1955, the expert, vice president of the Crisis Management Studies Center within the Ministry of Climate Crisis, said at a press conference in Athens. The rainfall that fell on the city of Volos and Mount Pelion represents "a large quantity (of water) for Greece, as well as for many regions in Europe," Dimitris Ziakopoulos said at a joint press conference with the Minister of Climate Crisis, Vassilis Kikilias. "It is an extraordinary situation," he insisted. The minister also emphasized that "the intensity and duration of the phenomenon are also unprecedented." Faced with criticism about the victims and significant damage caused by floods in Magnesia and neighboring areas, Vassilis Kikilias stated that the country's infrastructure needs to be reorganized to cope with the climate crisis. Turkey has also faced record precipitation, with the city of Istanbul being affected by it.