China has issued a severe flood warning in Guangdong province, activating an emergency response plan to protect more than 127 million people.
Calling the current situation particularly “severe,” local authorities said that river sections and tributaries in the Xijiang and Beijiang river basins are reaching their highest water levels in 50 years, state broadcaster CCTV reported on April 21.
The Beijiang River in Qingyuan City, Guangdong Province, China, on April 8. Photo: Imagine China
CCTV quoted China's Ministry of Water Resources as saying that large-scale flooding is likely to occur in the Bac Giang River basin, prompting the agency to issue an emergency warning.
Guangdong provincial authorities have called on all departments in all localities and cities to start making response plans to prevent natural disasters and promptly allocate relief funds and materials to ensure that affected people have enough food, clothing, drinking water and shelter.
The province has been witnessing torrential rains and strong winds since the evening of April 20. The heavy rain lasted for 12 hours, starting at 8 p.m., hitting the central and northern regions of the province in Zhaoqing, Shaoguan, Qingyuan, and Jiangmen cities.
Several power facilities in Trieu Khanh were damaged, causing power outages in many areas.
"Please look at Huaiji County in Zhaoqing, which has become a flooded area. The elderly and children in the countryside do not know what to do when there is no power and no phone signal," wrote one Weibo user.
"It was pouring rain last night for an hour and a half on the highway driving home," said another. "I couldn't see the road."
Authorities warned that many hydrological stations in the province were recording water levels exceeding limits, and in Guangzhou, the provincial capital of 18 million people, reservoirs had also reached flood limits.
Data showed that 2,609 hydrological stations reported daily rainfall greater than 50 mm, accounting for about 59% of the total number of monitoring stations. As of 8 a.m. on April 21, 27 hydrological stations in Guangdong were on alert.
Authorities are adjusting water levels in reservoirs through spillways and sluice gates to ensure flood control downstream.
Location Guangdong province, China. Graphics: BBC
Vu Hoang (According to Reuters )
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