China Floods: Evacuations as Torrential Rain Threatens 'Century Deluge'
Eleven people in China are missing after torrential rains struck the south of the country, causing floods and prompting the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents, Agerpres has reported.
Guangdong Province, China's most prosperous and populous, has been affected by the downpour since Thursday, which has significantly raised water levels, raising concerns that the "floods of the century" may be imminent.
In addition to the missing individuals, over 53,000 people in the province have been evacuated, the vast majority from the city of Qingyuan, located approximately 60 kilometres from the provincial capital, Guangzhou (Canton). The neighbouring metropolis of Shenzhen, situated near Hong Kong and a hub for numerous technology companies, was expected to experience violent storms with heavy precipitation on Monday.
The recent bad weather has also triggered landslides in mountainous areas. While heavy rainfall is not uncommon in southern China, particularly during the summer months, the country has been facing extreme weather conditions in recent months, which have been exacerbated according to climate change researchers. These researchers contend that climate change caused by human-emitted greenhouse gases has intensified extreme weather events.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
