Eleven people are missing and tens of thousands are evacuated after storms hit southern China, Chinese media reported on Monday.
Heavy rains have pounded the vast southern province of Guangdong in recent days, raising fears of severe flooding that state media said could be the kind that “happens about 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 reportedly been relocated across the province. Of those, more than 45,000 people have been evacuated from Qingyuan city in northern Guangdong, located on the banks of the Bei River, a tributary of the Pearl River Delta, state media reported on Sunday.
Heavy rains are expected to continue on Monday, with meteorological services 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 rains”, the National Meteorological Centre said. It also added:
It is expected that the main impact period of strong convection will last from daytime until night.
Guangdong province is China’s densely populated manufacturing centre, home to about 127 million people.
In the city of Jiangwan, six people were injured and several trapped by landslides caused by heavy rain on Sunday, state media reported.
Photos published by state broadcaster CCTV showed waterfront houses destroyed by a wall of brown mud and people taking shelter at a soaked public sports ground. CCTV said on Sunday that flooding up to 5.8 metres (19 feet) above the warning limit was expected in Pearl River tributaries on Monday morning.
