At least 47 people have died in southern China’s Guangdong Province after torrential rains set off flooding and landslides, according to the Chinese authorities.
The city of Meizhou, home to about 3.8 million people, began experiencing “once-in-a-century” rainfall last week, according to state media. On Monday, officials were still working to restore power and water to some residents, after they said on Sunday that around 9,000 households remained without electricity.
Initially, officials reported that nine people in Meizhou had died. But on Friday afternoon, the death toll leaped dramatically, as officials reported an additional 38 deaths in Pingyuan, a county under Meizhou’s jurisdiction. Two more people there were still missing, they said, though no more information has been released.
More than 100,000 people were evacuated, state media said.
Meizhou has been hit hard by extreme weather this year. In May, 48 people died after a nearly 60-foot segment of an expressway there collapsed, also after days of heavy rain.
Flooding-related deaths have also been reported in the nearby provinces of Fujian, Guangxi and Hunan this month. On Monday in Changsha, the capital city of Hunan, the police rescued people trapped in waist-deep water near a major train station, official media said.
The whole country is bracing for a summer of potential weather-related disasters. Even as southern China has been battered on and off by severe rain for months, provinces in the north have warned of drought. The capital city of Beijing last week was under a heat warning. And around the world, this year is on track to be the hottest in recorded history.
The Chinese authorities have warned that abnormally high amounts of rain are likely to continue falling until the end of the month, concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
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Flooding along the Shiku River in Jiaoling County, which is part of the city of Meizhou. At least five of the deaths in Meizhou were in Jiaoling.
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Residents cleaning debris in Meizhou. In one city district, the authorities told state media, rainfall during this year’s flood season was 76 percent higher than the average in years past.
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Workers clearing mud at a health center that was flooded during the heavy rainfall. In Jiaoling County alone, economic losses are estimated to reach 3.65 billion yuan, or about $500 million, according to state media.
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A muddy street in Meizhou after floodwater has receded.
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Collapsed buildings in Meizhou.
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Credit...CNSPhoto, via Reuters
Workers operating front loaders to clear the mud in a village in an outlying county of Meizhou.