BEIJING, June 15 (Reuters) – Heavy rainfall battered parts of southern China since the weekend, including the Guangxi region and Guangdong province, triggering flooding in cities, disrupting transport services and forcing thousands to relocate.
• China’s state flood control headquarters upgraded the emergency response to Level III on Monday, the third highest in a four-tier system, for Guangdong and Guangxi.
• Over 13,000 people were relocated in Guangdong, the provincial emergency department said on Monday, warning of risks of mountain floods and urban waterlogging in some areas.
• Such heavy downpours are usual at this time of year. The seasonal burst of summer rainfall is known as “dragon boat water”, because it tends to fall around the time of the Lunar calendar’s Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on June 19 this year.
• At Shenzhen airport, more than 30 departing flights were delayed on Monday due to thunderstorms in and around the city, local government said.
• In Guangxi, images from the fire department showed rescuers wading through waist-deep floodwaters to pull residents to safety in Wuzhou early on Monday.
• Railway authorities introduced reduced speeds, adjusted routes and suspended some train services in Guangxi from June 14 to 17 due to the heavy rain.
• In the southern Chinese province of Hainan, two passenger rail services to and from the island have been temporarily halted through Wednesday, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
• The National Meteorological Centre forecasts heavy to torrential rain across southern China through Tuesday, with parts of the Pearl River Delta and Guangxi coast facing extreme rainfall of up to 250–350 mm.
(Reporting by Shi Bu and Liz Lee; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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