BEIJING - The Chinese authorities remain on high alert in case of worsening weather, after four people died and 10 others went missing following heavy rain in parts of southern China over the weekend.
Guangdong province – China’s densely populated manufacturing powerhouse – has been the worst hit by the rain, which arrived unexpectedly early in 2024.
Cities along the Beijiang – a tributary of the Pearl River – such as Shaoguan, Yingde and Qingyuan, have reported landslides, flooding and evacuations.
About 110,000 affected residents in Guangdong, which has a population of 127 million, have been relocated, state news agency Xinhua reported on April 22. Four people are dead and 10 others are missing.
Some 1.16 million homes in Guangdong have lost power since April 19, though 80 per cent had their electricity restored by the night of April 21.
Flights and trains have either faced multiple delays or been cancelled, with some schools across the province ordered to shut. The waters caused 36 houses to collapse and severely damaged 48 others.
On social media, a video was widely shared of a rescue worker standing on another worker’s shoulders to get to people on an upper floor, while other videos showed elderly residents being carried down flights of stairs by rescuers.
The authorities estimated that the torrents had caused a direct economic loss of 140.6 million yuan (S$27 million).
Guangdong is prone to summer floods, though the season typically starts in May. Much of the province is part of the low-lying Pearl River delta, which is particularly vulnerable to storms and rising sea levels.
Ms Bi Li, a Guangzhou resident in her 20s who works in the dental industry, told The Straits Times that she was almost late for a professional examination in Shaoguan on the morning of April 20, due to poor road conditions caused by the weather.
“The combination of torrential downpour, lightning and thunder was very frightening. The driver and I couldn’t even see the road ahead on our way to the test centre,” said Ms Bi, who had gone to Shaoguan on the night of April 19 for the exam.
Afterwards, her private-hire driver had to take a detour to avoid flooded roads to get her to the railway station in Shaoguan city.
Xinhua news agency, citing information from the National Meteorological Centre, reported on April 22 that the rain in southern China is expected to subside over the next three days, though it will continue to fall in parts of Guangdong and Fujian provinces.
Besides Guangdong and Fujian, other provinces in the region such as Guangxi, Jiangxi and Guizhou also experienced heavy rainfall over the past week.
The report said several areas were getting record rainfall amounts, and that Guangdong could see rainfall of 100mm to 160mm in the coming days.
“Vast regions of the country’s south and south-west are expected to see a 50 per cent to 80 per cent increase in precipitation in late April compared with the same period in the previous years,” it added.
On the morning of April 22, the authorities said the threat of rainstorms remained elevated across the country, issuing a yellow alert, the third-highest level in China’s four-tiered coding system.
In Guangdong, helicopters, rubber boats and rescue workers have been deployed in affected areas to make sure residents can leave or have sufficient food and other necessities.
Mr Jason Lim, 42, a Singaporean who lives in Guangzhou, said the intermittently heavy rain since April 19 had caused flooding in parts of the city’s suburban areas.
In neighbouring Foshan, where he had gone for a work trip over the weekend, the water got up to his ankles, but roads were still passable, said Mr Lim, a deputy managing director at a food company.
The rain has disrupted logistics in Guangdong province, he said, adding that deliveries expected on April 22 would not arrive.
“Deliveries have been delayed due to the bad weather, but I expect they will arrive over the next two days,” he said.
Xinhua said railway services provided by China Railway Guangzhou Group that had been disrupted by the torrential rain resumed fully on April 22. A total of 305 trains either stopped operating or had to turn back due to bad weather between April 19 and 21.
