State media in China say heavy rainfall in the southern part of the country has forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate, destroying homes and causing multiple fatalities.
China’s Xinhua News Agency says at least four people have died and 10 are missing, adding that the storms hitting the area, once dubbed the factory of the world,” could lead to flooding that hasn’t been seen in a century.
As of Monday, Guangdong province’s capital, Guangzhou, received more monthly rainfall in April — about 24 inches — than since record-keeping began in 1959. So far, the storm has caused 36 houses to collapse and has damaged 48 others in the province.
State media say the storm has caused direct economic losses of 140.6 million yuan, roughly $19.4 million.
Many rivers in the region remain swollen on Monday, at levels exceeding safety thresholds and posing severe flood risks.
Guangdong province, which is prone to flooding in May and June, saw an earlier start to the season with the recent storms.
Rainfall is expected to continue through Tuesday evening, according to China’s Central Meteorological Observatory. A yellow alert for rainstorms was issued by authorities Monday, which is the second lowest in the four-tier system. High levels of precipitation are expected to continue across large swathes of China this week.
Scientists say extreme weather events have become increasingly common as carbon emissions exacerbate climate change.
According to Chinese meteorologists, the storms were spurred by an unusually strong subtropical high, a high-pressure system north of the equator. The subtropical high led to warmer temperatures which contributed to the record rainfall.
Some information in this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
