BEIJING (AP) — At least 47 people were killed when downpours in southern China’s Guangdong province caused historic flooding and landslides, state media reported Friday, while authorities warned of more extreme weather in other parts of the country.
State broadcaster CCTV said on Friday afternoon that another 38 people were killed in a province under the jurisdiction of Meizhou city, joining nine others previously reported dead elsewhere in Meizhou.
Heavy rains caused landslides, floods and mudslides that severely damaged eight townships in Pingyuan province, where the latest deaths were reported, CCTV said. The heaviest rainfall occurred on Sunday, with an average rainfall of 199 mm (7.83 in), and in one city 365.7 mm (14.4 in). The report does not indicate when the deaths occurred.
The extreme weather also destroyed about 356 kilometers of roads, damaged more than a hundred bridges and flooded farmland.
The day before, CCTV reported four deaths in Meizhou’s Meixian district and five in Jiaoling province.
The heaviest rainfall occurred from Sunday to Tuesday, causing trees to fall and houses to collapse. A road leading to the Meixian district completely collapsed during the heavy rains. According to CCTV, the Songyuan River, which winds through Meizhou, has experienced its largest recorded flood.
The estimated direct economic loss is 3.65 billion yuan ($502 million) in Jiaoling Province, while the loss in Meixian County is 1.06 billion yuan ($146 million).
Other parts of the country are also set to experience torrential rain and extreme weather over the next 24 hours, with the National Meteorological Center issuing a warning for several provinces in the south and some individual localities in the north.
Henan and Anhui provinces in central China, as well as coastal Jiangsu province and southern Guizhou province, are all forecast to see hail and strong thunderstorms. Rainfall could reach 50 mm to 80 mm (1.9 to 3.14 inches) in a single day in Henan, Anhui and Hubei provinces, the National Meteorological Center said.
That was the case last week southern provinces of Fujian and Guangxi which suffered landslides and flooding amid heavy rains. One student died in Guangxi after falling into a river swollen by the downpour.
