Heavy rain, floods cause severe damage in China

Beijing : Heavy rainfall and flooding have caused severe damage in southern China, causing landslides and making roads impassable.

Chinese state television on Monday reported that the province of Guangxi in southern China is expecting total economic damage of around 329 million yuan ($45 million), for example, due to destroyed farmland or collapsed houses.

Meanwhile, authorities in several provinces warned of flooding.

In the region around Meizhou in Guangdong province, east of Guangxi, nearly 1,38,000 households lost power, state television reported.

Water levels in several rivers in the area have been at alarming levels since the weekend due to the heavy rainfall.

According to state television, the authorities in Guangdong relocated 11,100 people living in risk areas near dykes as a precautionary measure. Classes were cancelled in some schools in the Meizhou area on Monday. Kindergartens there were also closed.

In Guangxi, people were taken to emergency shelters. Footage showed people paddling on flooded streets in rubber dinghies and carrying elderly people through the water. Just over 11,000 people reportedly needed vital assistance.

As the warning report from the Chinese weather authority showed, the south-eastern Chinese province of Fujian was also expecting heavy rain on Monday. According to the authorities, around 36,000 people were evacuated due to the flooding. Days of heavy rain caused devastating damage in many parts of Fujian.

Large parts of Fujian have been devastated by days of severe rainfall.

Flooding has damaged 12,350 hectares of harvest, amounting to some $225 million in direct losses.

Further heavy rainfall was forecast for several regions, Chinese authorities warned on Sunday evening.

According to the National Meteorological Centre, parts of the south-eastern provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Guangdong, and further west, the provinces of Guizhou, Guangxi, Sichuan and Yunnan are expected to be hit by severe rainfall or storms on Monday.

Severe downpours, including rainfall of more than 70 millimetres per hour and thunderstorms, were forecast, the centre said.

The Ministry of Water Resources and the Meteorological Department issued a level orange warning, its second highest.