Some 127million people in China are on alert after deadly ‘once in a century’ floods killed at least four people and forced tens of thousands to evacuate their homes.
Violent storms have battered southern China since Thursday, state media said today, with 11 people missing amid the torrential downpours that have submerged cities, swept away cars and lashed a region dubbed the ‘factory floor of the world’.
Heavy rain has descended upon the vast southern province of Guangdong in recent days, swelling rivers by up to seven metres and raising fears of severe flooding that local media said could be of the sort only ‘seen around once a century’.
‘Three deaths were reported in Zhaoqing City while the remaining one is a rescuer in Shaoguan City,’ state news agency Xinhua reported, citing local authorities.
Ten others remain missing as search and rescue efforts in the area continue to be carried out, Xinhua added.
China is no stranger to extreme weather but recent years have seen the country hit by severe floods, grinding droughts and record heat.
Across the province, 36 houses collapsed while 48 were severely damaged, resulting in a direct economic loss of nearly 140.6 million yuan, Xinhua reported.
More than 110,000 people have been relocated across Guangdong, according to the news site.
Of those, more than 45,000 were evacuated from the northern city of Qingyuan, which straddles the banks of the Bei River, a tributary in the wider Pearl River Delta, state media reported Sunday.
The authorities said the river was expected to reach levels not seen in 50 years.
Terrifying footage shared on state media and online show large swathes of land submerged in murky waters as rescuers were seen ferrying people on lifeboats in the waist-deep floods.
Other images show muddy waters engulfing shops, homes, and farmland areas of Guangdong as birds-eye photos of the province show a concrete jungle drowning in flood waters.
On Monday, authorities raced to rescue villagers caught in landslides and to evacuate trapped residents, dispatching helicopters and carrying the elderly on their backs through the deluge from their homes.
Others remained on the upper floors of their houses, waiting for the waters to recede as friends delivered food by boat.
Residents were seen climbing with suitcases and children off of rubber boats as they made a desperate attempt to reach safety as the freak weather unleashed its hell upon the province.
In another image of the aftermath, a vehicle was seen crushed by a fallen tree as destruction unravelled across the province.
Footage captured on Saturday showed a bridge crumbling and collapsing into a river as punishing winds blitzed through the area.
Hailstones with diameters of up to 3cm have also been seen shooting down from the grey skies – smashing through the roofs of houses causing major chaos and destruction.
A number of major rivers have burst their banks, with authorities claiming they are now closely monitoring ‘ dangerously high’ water levels.
Guangdong province in #China is facing severe floods due to heavy rain, prompting the evacuation of 110,000 people. Four lives lost, 10 missing. Rivers overflow as officials monitor a potential “once in 100 years” water level peak. The low-lying Pearl River delta remains at high… pic.twitter.com/zgovXy8XQZ
— WorldNews (@FirstWorldNewss) April 22, 2024
China is facing the worst flooding of the last 50 years, reportedly 150 million people were badly affected by the flood. pic.twitter.com/ptyYzj9sYp
— Islam (@AqssssFajr) April 22, 2024
Across the province, around 1.16million households lost power over the weekend, but 80 per cent had their electricity restored by Sunday.
Flights have been cancelled and delayed at Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou due to continuous rain, while schools have been ordered shut in at least three cities.
Heavy rain is expected to continue throughout Monday, with meteorological authorities forecasting ‘thunderstorms and strong winds in Guangdong’s coastal waters’ – a stretch of sea bordering major cities including Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Authorities warned that the level of a river in northern Guangdong could hit a ‘once in 100 years’ peak on Monday morning, though this had yet to materialise by noon.
They have also taken pre-emptive steps of draining excessive water levels from reservoirs as the flood levels continue to rise.
Neighbouring provinces, including parts of Fujian, Guizhou and Guangxi, will also be affected by ‘short-term heavy rainfall’, the National Meteorological Centre said.
‘It is expected that the main impact period of strong convection will last from daytime until night,’ it added.
Authorities on Monday issued a yellow alert for rainstorms – the second-lowest in its four-tier system – with high levels of precipitation expected to continue across large swathes of the country.
Guangdong province is China’s densely populated manufacturing heartland, home to around 127million people who now remain on high alert following the disaster weather.
