Beijing (AFP)-The heaviest rainfall in decades has caused floods and landslides in southern China, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate, state media reported.
Heavy rains have recently dangerously inflated waterways in the lowland Pearl River basin, and manufacturing, transportation, and logistics operations when the supply chain is already under stress due to China’s strict Covid-19 regulations. Is threatening.
According to China’s National Meteorological Center, the average rainfall in Guangdong, Fujian and Guangdong reached 621 mm from early May to mid-June, the highest since 1961.
State media photos show people flocking to school camp beds converted into temporary housing in Shaoguan, Guangdong, and hundreds of tents built on the playground.
In the adjacent Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, muddy water flooded the city and emergency rescuers were seen evacuating villagers on inflatable raft, according to state media images.
Guangdong provincial officials said on Monday (June 20) that more than 200,000 people were evacuated during the disaster and the damage so far is estimated at S $ 1.7 billion (S $ 352 million).
According to the authorities, the evacuees were among about 480,000 people affected by the rain and floods.
Shaoguan issued the most serious red flood warning on Tuesday morning after several local counties and Foshan recently upgraded their flood warnings.
The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has been hit by the most severe floods since 2005, local media reported.
Meteorological officials said Monday that 28 rivers in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region exceeded warning levels and continued to rain on Tuesday.
Jiangxi Province issued a red flood warning on Monday.
Floods have evacuated more than 220,000 people in Fujian since the beginning of this month, according to China’s Xinhua News Agency.
Earlier this month, floods caused by torrential rains in Hubei Province, central China, killed at least 21 people.
A catastrophic flood in Henan Province, central China, killed 398 people and cost more than US $ 10 billion last summer.
