Emergency responses activated as heavy rains batter south China

An aerial drone photo taken on June 16, 2024 shows the flood in Wuyishan of Nanping City, east China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)

BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Several Chinese provinces have initiated or upgraded their emergency response for flooding after experiencing intense downpours and rising rivers levels.

So far, heavy rainfall has wreaked havoc in east China's Fujian Province and southwest China's Guizhou Province.

Four people have been killed, and two others are missing after landslides caused by torrential rain swept through Wuping County in Fujian, according to local authorities on Monday.

Between Sunday and Monday afternoon, around 47,800 people in Wuping, in the city of Longyan, have been impacted by the downpours. The highest 24-hour rainfall measurement in Wuping was 372.4 millimeters.

The local flood control and drought relief headquarters in Wuping initiated a Level I emergency response for heavy rain. China has a four-tier flood-control emergency response system, with Level I being the most severe.

In Guizhou, 113 observation stations in 29 counties (cities and districts) saw heavy downpours from Sunday to Monday, with the maximum rainfall exceeding 200 millimeters.

According to the flood control and drought relief headquarters in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, the downpour has affected 1,178 people, with 874 transferred to emergency shelters as of 11 a.m. on Monday.

Some parts of the province are facing disruptions in electricity grid operations. China Southern Power Grid's Guizhou branch initiated a Level IV emergency response for wind and flood prevention last Thursday. As of Monday morning, 293 personnel and 109 vehicles have been mobilized for emergency operations.

The Guizhou meteorological observatory predicted that heavy rainfall will continue, leading to rising risks of geological disasters and secondary disasters, including floods.

The flood control and drought relief headquarters of central China's Hunan Province and east China's Jiangxi Province have also activated a Level IV emergency response to flooding.

Railway authorities have suspended 85 train services through Hunan from Monday to June 20 due to heavy rain in the western part of the province.

Furthermore, Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China also upgraded their flood control emergency response. As of 2 p.m. Monday, 19 hydrological stations in Guangdong had recorded water levels above the warning level, according to the provincial water resources department.

In Guangdong, mountain torrents and landslides triggered by torrential rains have killed five people, left 15 others missing and trapped 13, local authorities said Monday.

At 6 p.m. on Monday, the National Meteorological Center continued to issue an orange alert for rainstorms, the second worst of the country's four-tier color-coded weather warning system.

The Ministry of Water Resources and the China Meteorological Administration also jointly maintained the highest alert for mountain torrents on the same day.