China issues top rainstorm alert as deadly flooding moves north

Hong Kong CNN —

Torrential storms that have brought widespread flooding to southeast China are moving inland, prompting the national weather service to issue its most severe rainstorm alert and warnings of further flash floods and mudslides in the coming days.

The region has been battered by heavy rainfall over the last week, causing deadly flooding and landslides that have killed at least 71 people, according to Chinese state media.

Southern Guangdong province, an economic powerhouse home to 127 million people, is subject to annual flooding from April to September. But the coastal region has faced more intense rainstorms and severe flooding in recent years as scientists warn the climate crisis will amplify extreme weather, making it deadlier and more frequent.

After displacing tens of thousands of people in Guangdong, the storms have moved slightly northward into southern central China, with footage emerging of waterlogged highways and a swamped metro system in Hunan province.

Floodwaters immerse a rural road in Chongzuo, southern China, on June 23, 2024.

On Monday, China’s Meteorological Administration hoisted the highest red rainstorm signal for the first time this year. It warned of high risks of torrential rain in several provinces.

The high-risk area stretches from Chongqing province in the west to Zhejiang in the east, covering Hubei, Hunan and Anhui provinces.

China’s State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters accelerated its flood response to level 3 (level 1 is the most urgent response) in the provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi and Hunan on Monday, Chinese state media reported.

An excavator works at the site of a landslide in Guizhou province, China on June 24, 2024.

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