Residents in China have been put on high alert after more than 70 crocodiles were set loose after severe flooding destroyed the farm where they were being housed.
According to Chinese media, seven people have already died in the Maoming floods, while lizards navigate the flooded streets.
69 adult crocodiles and six juveniles escaped the unrelenting rain induced by Typhoon Haikui’s remnants.
Efforts have been made to capture some of them, but others prove harder to reach due to the depth of the lake they have gathered in.
Over a hundred landslides have occurred in the region, trapping many residents under rising floodwaters.
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While no crocodile-related injuries have been reported, the floods have claimed seven lives, with additional people missing due to landslides.
In Hong Kong, the rainfall caused transportation disruptions and forced school closures.
Videos of flooded streets in Hong Kong and neighbouring Guangdong province circulated on social media. Vehicles crossed the flooded highways, and rescue personnel traversed the soggy areas on rafts.
Water cascaded down staircases and escalators in a Hong Kong metro station, while cars became stalled in the muddy waters of flooded streets, including the cross-harbour tunnel between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.
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Due to the heavy rain, schools in Hong Kong and the mainland city of Shenzhen were closed, while non-essential workers in Hong Kong were urged not to commute to work on Friday.
Due to the inclement weather, most bus services in Hong Kong were suspended.
Hong Konger Vivian Hui, 27, lives in Shenzhen, near to Hong Kong, which is one of the areas experiencing more severe weather conditions, told Express.co.uk: “There’s been very heavy rainfall since last night, average rainfall of about 380l per metre squared apparently, the electricity in my building went out around 2am last night [because the basement was flooded] and this morning the water was out as well.”
She said: “I live on the 17th floor so mostly felt safe, I woke up at 9am with electricity and water being out and it was still raining heavily, thought I would wait it out a bit and went back to sleep until noon, by then it has gotten better and I could go out already.”
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Vivian explained that authorities had not ordered an evacuation “but there’s been official text message warnings to stay away from slopes and evacuate to safety if needed”.
She said that the situation reportedly improved during the morning after a challenging night.
The 27-year-old explained while there was no official evacuation, people could move around, although there was traffic due to stalled cars which had been abandoned by their owners.
Meanwhile, some food delivery services continued to operate, allowing people to order essentials.
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