Southern China Has Been Hit By Heavy Rains And Floods As The Dragon Water Peaks.

Roads turned into swollen rivers as cars and one-story homes were swept away in at least two counties in southwest China’s Guizhou province on Saturday, according to videos circulating on Chinese social media. The rains in some areas were the most intense in the last 60 years. In neighboring Guangxi Zone, five villagers were killed when a wooden house collapsed after torrential rains, state media reported on Saturday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Mud landslides and road collapses were also reported. Heavy rains will continue in Guizhou, Jiangxi, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces, as well as in Guangxi, until early next week, according to state weather forecast on Sunday, as a rainy window known as “dragon boat water” peaks. An aerial view shows rescuers and floodwaters near the Shuinan Bridge after heavy rainfall in Jianou, Fujian Province, China, June 19, 2022. The photo was taken on June 19, 2022 by drone. China Daily via REUTERS
read more In southern China, the weeks leading up to and after the Dragon Boat Festival in early June have traditionally been characterized by unstable and rainy weather, with hot and humid winds in the south colliding with colder air masses in the north. The thunderstorms in early summer were more intense and more prolonged than usual this year, with rainfall in Guangxi, Guangdong and Fujian at the highest level since 1961, according to local meteorological offices. “Cold and hot air have converged in southern China and both sides have reached a dead end,” said Wang Weiyue, an analyst at weather.com.cn, a branch of the China Meteorological Agency. China has historically been prone to summer floods, but has recently become more vulnerable due to deforestation, wetland rehabilitation and water storage for electricity generation and irrigation. Climate change has also been blamed. In July 2021, hundreds of people lost their lives when extreme flooding hit Zhengzhou, a city of 12 million people in central China, some of whom drowned in a submerged subway line. read more Rainfall that continues in southern China is expected to subside around the summer solstice on Tuesday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Ryan Woo. Edited by Tom Hogue Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.