The heaviest rainfall in decades has triggered floods and landslides in southern China, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people, state media reported.The downpours have dangerously swelled waterways in the low-lying Pearl River basin in recent days, threatening manufacturing, shipping and logistics operations at a time when supply chains are already stressed because of China’s strict Covid-19 controls.
The average rainfall in Guangdong, Fujian and Guangxi provinces between early May and the middle of June reached 621 millimetres (24 inches), the highest since 1961, according to China’s National Meteorological Center.
State media photos showed people huddled on camp beds in schools converted into temporary shelters in Guangdong’s Shaoguan city, and hundreds of tents erected on a sports ground.
Meteorological authorities said Monday that 28 of Guangxi’s rivers had exceeded warning levels, with rains continuing on Tuesday.
Jiangxi province issued a red alert for flooding on Monday.
And in Fujian, more than 220,000 people have been evacuated since the beginning of this month because of floods, China’s official Xinhua news agency said Monday.
Earlier this month, at least 21 people died after flooding induced by torrential rain in the central Chinese province of Hubei.
Catastrophic flooding in central China’s Henan province last summer killed 398 people and caused economic losses of more than $10 billion.
