(Ex, Afp)
At least three people have died in floods caused by heavy rains that hit Guangdong province, in southeast China. Tens of thousands of people have been forced from their homes, state media said on April 22.
Torrential rains in Guangdong province, the richest and most populous in the country, began on April 18.
According to local authorities, the level reached by the rivers raises fears of “floods of the century”.
“Three people have died,” said the China News news agency, citing the body that deals with emergency situations, while eleven people are missing.
More than 53,000 people have been relocated, Xinhua news agency said.
Most were relocated from Qingyuan, a city crossed by the Bei River, a tributary of the Pearl River Delta.
Heavy thunderstorms are also expected on April 22 in the metropolis of Shenzhen, which borders the Hong Kong special administrative region.
Torrential rains in recent days have also caused some landslides in the mountainous areas of the province.
Floods in southern China are quite frequent, especially in summer.
But in recent months the country has been hit by a series of extreme events, worsened by the climate crisis, according to scientists.
Global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions is increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme events, including heat waves, wildfires, floods and drought episodes.
