Heavy rains in southern and eastern China have left at least 62 people dead or missing, while over one million residents have been evacuated, the government and state media said on Sunday.
Rains were expected to further pound southern China in the coming days with water levels in rivers threatening towns in Jiangxi, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces, the state meteorological bureau said.
According to the civil affairs ministry, at least 55 people have been killed and seven others were missing following torrential rains in nine provinces over the last week, the China News Service said.
More than 1,27-million people have been evacuated in the hardest hit regions, with large swathes of farm land submerged and economic losses already amounting to over 10-billion yuan ($1,45-billion), it said.
Over 17,8-million people had been affected by flooding brought on by the torrential rains, while over 141 000 homes had been wrecked or damaged, it added.
The rains have washed out roads throughout the nine provinces, many of which have also been hit by landslides, Xinhua news agency said.
Prosperous Guangdong province was the worst affected. Rains there left at least 28 people dead or missing, with flooding in the Pearl River delta the worst in decades, it said.
The Guangdong government issued an emergency flood alert throughout the province as levels in tributaries to the Pearl river hit or were surpassing warning levels, the report said.
The government had dispatched 10 special boats to Changle city, one of the worst hit in Guangdong were up to 100 000 people were being evacuated, it said.
In parts of Guangdong, up to 415 millimetres of rain fell in a 24-hour period from Friday to Saturday, the report said, while the freakish weather dumped up to 451 millimetres in parts of neighbouring Fujian province.
Food prices, already a main driver of inflation in China, were also rising due to the flooding, with vegetable prices in some Guangdong cities up between 30% and 70% on Saturday alone, Xinhua said.
In Guangxi province, which lies west of Guangdong, officials warned of rock and mudslides in mountainous areas where already the torrential rain has been responsible for the deaths of 14 people since last week, Xinhua said in a separate report. – AFP
