International Desk, Bangladesh Global: Eleven people are missing following
storms that battered southern China, state media said Monday, with tens of
thousands evacuated away from the torrential downpours.
Heavy rain has descended upon the vast southern province of Guangdong in
recent days, swelling rivers and raising fears of severe flooding that state
media said could be of the sort only "seen around once a century".
"A total of 11 people are missing after continuous heavy rainfall hit many
parts of (Guangdong) in recent days," state news agency Xinhua said, citing
the local emergency management department.
More than 53,000 people have been relocated across the province, it added.
Of those, more than 45,000 were evacuated from the northern Guangdong city of
Qingyuan, which straddles the banks of the Bei River, a tributary in the
wider Pearl River Delta, state media reported Sunday.
Heavy rain is expected to continue on 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.
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.
Guangdong province is China's densely populated manufacturing heartland, home
to around 127 million people.
In the town of Jiangwan, six people were injured and a number were trapped in
landslides caused by heavy rain on Sunday, state media reported.
Photographs published by state broadcaster CCTV showed waterfront homes
destroyed by a wall of brown mud, and people sheltering in a soaked public
sports court.
CCTV reported Sunday that floods as high as 5.8 metres (19 feet) above the
warning limit would strike in Pearl River tributaries on Monday morning.
China is no stranger to extreme weather but recent years have seen the
country whiplashed by severe floods, grinding droughts and record heat.
Climate change driven by human-emitted greenhouse gases makes extreme weather
events more frequent and intense, and China is the world's biggest emitter.
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