On Tuesday afternoon, April 23, China lifted a brief red alert issued in a southern part of the country, where deadly torrential rains led to the evacuation of more than 100,000 residents. Since Thursday, torrential rains have hit the province of Guangdong, the most populous province with some 127 million inhabitants, and the manufacturing heart of the Asian giant.
Rainfall in recent days has caused rivers to swell to such a level that there are fears of “floods of the century”, warned the authorities on Sunday. On Tuesday, the metropolis of Shenzhen was placed on red alert for several hours, the highest risk level. It was finally lifted following a significant improvement in weather conditions in this city of 17.7 million inhabitants, bordering Hong Kong.
The bad weather in recent days has left at least four dead in Guangdong and ten people are still missing, according to an official report revised upwards on Monday which has not changed.
More than 100,000 people relocated
More than 100,000 people from Guangdong also had to be relocated, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Part of it was evacuated from Qingyuan, a town located about sixty kilometers from Guangzhou and crossed by the Bei River, a tributary of the Pearl River Delta.
Elsewhere, bad weather caused landslides in mountainous areas. Six people were injured and several others trapped near the city of Jiangwan in northern Guangdong, according to state television CCTV. Images broadcast by the channel show homes on the banks of a river destroyed by a torrent of mud, and people being treated by emergency services on a waterlogged sports field.
In Foshan, a city near Guangzhou, a ship hit a bridge, Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday, citing local authorities. This incident, undoubtedly a consequence of the floods according to the press agency, threw the boat’s crew into the water. Seven people were rescued but four remain missing, according to the agency.
Already in September, Shenzhen was hit by torrential rains, the heaviest ever recorded since weather records began in 1952, according to state media.
Heavy rainfall in southern China is not unusual in summer, but considered early in spring. The country has faced extreme weather conditions in recent months, exacerbated by climate change, according to scientists.