Causing floods in cities in southern China and mudslides in rural areas, as the first summer rains reach their peak. The southern part of China has been hit by severe storms, with roads turning into raging rivers as cars and single-storey houses were washed away in at least two counties in Guizhou province in southwestern China on Saturday, according to videos circulating on Chinese social media. Rainfall in some areas has been severe for 60 years. In the neighboring Guangxi district, five residents were killed when a wooden house collapsed in torrential rains, state media reported on Saturday.
Mudslides and road collapses were also reported. Heavy rains will continue to fall in the provinces of Guizhou, Jiangxi, Anhui and Zhejiang, as well as Guangxi, until early next week, according to weather forecasts on Sunday, as the rain window known as the “dragon boat water” peaks. In southern China, the weeks before and following the Dragon Boat Festival in early June are often marked by unstable and rainy weather as warm, humid southern winds collide with cooler winds from the north.
Early summer storms have become heavier and heavier than usual this year, with rainfall in Guangxi, Guangdong and Fujian rising sharply since 1961, according to local meteorological agencies. “Cold and hot winds have gathered in southern China, and both sides have entered a crisis,” said Wang Weiyue, arm of the China Meteorological Administration. China has historically experienced summer floods, but in recent times, it has become increasingly vulnerable to deforestation, wetland rehabilitation, and the storage of water for electricity and irrigation. In July 2021, hundreds of people died when floods hit Zhengzhou, a city of 12 million people in central China, some of whom drowned on an underwater railway line. Ongoing rains in southern China are expected to improve during the summer on Tuesday
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