Southern China has been lashed by heavy rain in recent weeks, causing flooding in many areas including Shaoguan city. The muddy floodwater inundated shops and buildings, and people were seen clearing away the debris. (File photo by= AFP/STR) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] BEIJING: Record floods were expected in parts of southern China Thursday (Jun 23) as heavy rains pushed water levels in the Pearl River delta to their highest in almost a century, BBC reported.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from the worst-hit parts of the region, which includes Guangdong province, the manufacturing, and logistics hub that is home to China's tech capital Shenzhen. China's ministry of water resources on Wednesday placed its highest flood alert on the Pearl River basin, saying water levels at one location "surpassed historical records" and that the provincial capital Guangzhou would be impacted. Images from the city of Shaoguan, north of Guangzhou, showed residents on Wednesday making their way through flooded main roads. The low-lying Pearl River delta is home to the economic powerhouses of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, including several smaller but densely populated cities with major manufacturing and other industries.
Other regions in southern China, including coastal Fujian province and Guangxi, have also been affected by record rains this month, forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate. Summer floods are common in parts of China, but these have been getting more extreme in recent years as a result of climate change. Chinese authorities so far have not directly linked this year's extreme floods to climate change.