Tens of thousands are forced to flee due to flooding in South China

Tens of thousands of residents in southern China have been evacuated due to severe floods, and more rain is predicted.

Amid increasing seas and the possibility of landslides, the manufacturing hub of Guangdong closed its schools, offices, and public transportation.

Nearly 500,000 people in the adjacent province of Jiangxi have had their lives uprooted and their homes damaged.

In Guangdong, primarily in the cities of Shaoguan, Heyuan, and Meizhou, about the same number of people have been impacted.
The intense rain has caused several city highways to collapse, washed away homes, cars, and crops, and more rain is expected in the next few days. The first red alert of the year—the strongest warning—was issued by Chinese authorities on Sunday for potential mountain torrents.
Rescue teams on inflatable boats rescued people stuck in their homes in flooded villages in Zhejiang Province, a little further north.
The central and southern regions of China, which typically receive the greatest rainfall, are the ones that experience flooding the most frequently throughout the summer. In some areas, this year’s flooding is the worst in decades, and it comes on top of the strict COVID-19 regulations that have made it difficult for people to travel, find work, and go about their daily lives.
The Yangtze River, China’s most powerful river, was the site of the country’s worst floods in recent memory, which claimed more than 2,000 lives and destroyed nearly 3 million homes.

The government has made significant investments in hydropower and flood control projects, notably as the enormous Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze.
As a result of climate change, tropical storms are becoming more powerful globally, increasing flooding that endangers people’s lives, agricultural production, and groundwater.