Floods expected in China’s Guangdong, millions at risk

Major rivers, waterways and reservoirs in China’s Guangdong province are threatening to cause dangerous flooding, forcing the government on Sunday to draw up emergency plans to protect more than 127 million people.

Local meteorological officials called the situation “serious” and the state broadcaster said some rivers and tributaries in the Xijiang and Beijiang basins were reaching rare peaks in water levels, with only a one-in-50 chance of happening in any given year. CCTV News reported on Sunday.

According to CCTV, China’s Ministry of Water Resources issued an emergency notice.

Relevant departments of Guangdong Province require that all regions and cities should activate natural disaster emergency plans and allocate disaster relief funds and materials in a timely manner to ensure that the affected people have food, clothing, water, and a place to live.

Our province, a major export province and one of China’s main commercial and trade centers, has been experiencing heavy rain and strong winds for several days, a weather pattern that has also affected other parts of China.

12 hours of rain

Rescue workers were mobilized as heavy rains for 12 hours began at 8pm (1200 GMT) on Saturday in central and northern parts of the province, including the cities of Zhaoqing, Shaoguan, Qingyuan and Jiangmen.

According to official media reports, more than 45,000 people have been evacuated from Qingyuan City, while some power facilities in Zhaoqing City were damaged and blackouts occurred in some areas.

According to official media reports, a total of 1.16 million households in Guangdong Province were without power due to heavy rains.

Some 1,103 schools in Zhaoqing, Shaoguan and Qingyuan will be closed on Monday, China National Radio reported.

“Please look at Huaiji County in Zhaoqing, which has turned into a water town. Elderly people and children in rural areas have no power, no signal, and don’t know what to do,” said one user on the popular social media Weibo.

“The rain is like a waterfall”

A video posted by Red Star News showed raging floodwaters overturning a car on a narrow street in Zhaoqing city.

Another Weibo user said: “It rained for an hour and a half on the highway driving home last night, like a waterfall.” “I couldn’t see the road at all.”

Qingyuan, Shaoguan and other places also suspended ship navigation on many rivers, and the maritime department sent forces on duty to coordinate emergency tugs and emergency rescue vessels.

Meteorological officials warned that water levels were above water levels at many hydrological stations in the province; on Sunday, officials in Guangzhou, the provincial capital of 18 million people, announced that reservoirs had reached flood limits.

Data show that there are 2,609 hydrological stations with daily rainfall greater than 50 mm (1.97 inches), accounting for about 59% of all observation stations. At 8 a.m. on Sunday, 27 hydrological stations in Guangdong were put on alert.

In neighboring Guangxi, to the west of Guangdong, hurricane-like winds battered the area, destroying buildings, state media videos showed. According to CCTV reports, hail and severe flooding also occurred in some places.

In another video, rescuers can be seen trying to free an elderly man clinging to a tree that was half submerged in floodwaters.

There were 65 landslides in Hezhou, Guangxi, as of 10:00 am (0200 GMT), state media reported.

Weather forecasts predict heavy rain in Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces on Monday.