By Bernard Orr and Ethan Wang
BEIJING (Reuters) – Major rivers, streams and reservoirs in China’s Guangdong province threaten to unleash dangerous floods, forcing the government to implement emergency response plans to protect more than 127 million people on Sunday.
Calling the situation “grim,” local weather officials said sections of rivers and tributaries in the Xijiang and Beijiang river basins are hitting water levels with a rare spike that has only a one in 50 chance of occurring in any given year , the state broadcaster reported. CCTV said this on Sunday.
China’s Ministry of Water Resources issued an emergency warning, CCTV reported.
Guangdong officials urged departments in all localities and municipalities to initiate emergency planning to avoid natural disasters and to timely disperse disaster relief funds and materials to ensure affected people have food, clothing, water and shelter. place to stay.
The province, a major exporter and one of China’s main trading hubs, has been hit by heavy downpours and strong winds for several days, in weather that has also affected other parts of China.
A 12-hour period of heavy rain, starting at 8pm (1200 GMT) on Saturday, hit central and northern parts of the province, including the cities of Zhaoqing, Shaoguan, Qingyuan and Jiangmen where the rescuers.
According to state media, more than 45,000 people were evacuated in Qingyuan, and some power plants in Zhaoqing were damaged, knocking out electricity in some locations.
Overall in Guangdong, 1.16 million households lost electricity due to heavy rains, according to state-backed media.
Some 1,103 schools in Zhaoqing, Shaoguan and Qingyuan will suspend classes on Monday, Chinese state radio reported.
CITY OF WATER
“Look at Huaiji County in Zhaoqing, which has become a city on the water. The elderly and children in the countryside don’t know what to do with the power outages and no signal,” said one user on the popular social site Weibo Media (NASDAQ: ).
Violent floodwaters swept away a vehicle along a narrow road in Zhaoqing, a video published by Hongxing News showed.
“Last night it rained like a waterfall for an hour and a half on the highway on the way home,” another Weibo user said. “I couldn’t see the road at all.”
Authorities in Qingyuan and Shaoguan also suspended ships from traveling across several rivers, with maritime departments dispatching forces to be on duty and coordinate emergency tugboats and emergency rescue vessels.
Many hydrological stations in the province are rising above water levels, weather officials warned, and in the provincial capital Guangzhou, a city of 18 million people, reservoirs have reached flood limits, city officials announced Sunday.
The data showed 2,609 hydrological stations with daily precipitation greater than 50 mm (1.97 in), representing approximately 59% of all observation stations. As of 8am on Sunday, 27 hydrological stations in Guangdong were on alert.
In neighboring Guangxi, west of Guangdong, violent hurricane-like winds lashed the region, destroying buildings filmed by state media. Hailstones and severe flooding also occurred in some places, CCTV said.
In another video, rescuers could be seen trying to save an elderly person clinging to a tree half submerged in floodwaters.
As of 10am (0200 GMT), 65 landslides were recorded in Guangxi’s Hezhou city, state media reported.
Meteorologists predict heavy rain until Monday in the Guangxi region, Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces.