Two provinces upgraded their flood warnings on Tuesday as rivers burst their banks. Average rainfall in the southern provinces of Guangdong, Fujian and Guangxi between early May and mid-June reached 24 inches (62.1 cm), the highest since 1961, according to the China National Meteorological Center. Image: This photo released by the Xinhua News Agency via the AP shows flooded areas of Wuyuan County, Jiangxi Province in southeast China Some 145,000 people have been evacuated from areas in Guangxi and 2,700 homes have collapsed. The cities of Shaoguan and Qingyuan in Guangdong have raised their Level 1 flood alerts to the highest level. Officials in Guangdong said more than 200,000 people had been evacuated. Authorities urged residents to move to higher ground after the floods reached record levels, state television reported. Officials also said construction sites, businesses, public transport and docks may be closed, and staff who cannot go to work should not be forced to do so. In northeastern Jiangxi Province, authorities issued a “red alert” for floods after 485,000 people were affected in nine areas, Xinhua news agency reported. The economic losses reached 470 million yuan (,2 57.2 million), with 43,300 hectares of crops being destroyed, he said. Photos from the state media showed flooded homes, people trying to clear muddy slides with sticks and setting up flood protection systems with sandbags. This heavy rainfall in the southern provinces was expected to peak today and then forecast to move north by Wednesday. Image: A man was rescued in Fujian Province. Photo: China Daily via Reuters China has seen unprecedented rainfall in recent months – extreme weather that experts say is becoming more common due to global warming. In August last year, 21 people were killed in heavy rains in central China’s Hubei province, just weeks after floods killed more than 300 people in neighboring Henan province.
