Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak on Saturday said 12 care teams have been deployed to Sai Kung in response to the severe rainfall that hit the area.

At one point, the Observatory recorded over 200 millimetres of rain in the district, causing significant flooding on several roads, including Po Lam Road North and Wan Po Road in Tseung Kwan O, as well as Pak Sha Wan Street in Sai Kung.

The home affairs minister said some care team members were already on duty in temporary shelters while others were checking the district for floods and reporting to the Sai Kung district officer.

She also dismissed claims that some care team members didn't turn up when the rain was at its hardest on Saturday morning.

“Care team members are volunteers and they are fully dedicated to their work. However, during periods of heavy rainfall and when there are floods, the responsibility for addressing standing water and flooding falls to the government's professional departments,” she said. “I think the general public don’t expect care teams to deal with the floods without the necessary equipment.”

She added that most floods in the district had been dealt with before noon and most roads affected had been reopened by 2 pm.

She said the Home Affairs Department had opened nine temporary shelters across Hong Kong for people in need of temporary accommodation.