Guangzhou in South China’s Guangdong Province suffered a rainstorm on April 23, 2022. Photo: VCG

 
Guangzhou, the capital city of South China’s Guangdong Province with over 18 million residents, has launched an emergency response for a rainstorm and flooding on Tuesday as weather forecasts show a persistent rainstorm is expected to sweep through the city from Tuesday evening till Friday and rivers in the city are expected to see a surge of water. 

The city’s counter-extreme weather authority on Tuesday started preparations for the transfer and resettlement of personnel to ensure the safety of people in dangerous areas. 
 
China’s Ministry of Water Resources issued a fourth-degree emergency response to prevent a flooding disaster in Guangdong province and its neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Tuesday morning, noting that heavy rainfall will also sweep through East China’s Jiangxi Province and Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, and may cause small and medium-sized rivers to flood. 

The ministry said it has dispatched working groups to the frontiers of the prevention work to guide monitoring and patrol of dikes and reservoirs as well as project scheduling. 

The fourth-degree emergency response was launched in Guangzhou on Tuesday morning, in a bid to remind the relevant institutions to carry out work to deal with emergencies or make preparations for emergency rescues. 

The city’s meteorological disaster emergency response headquarters reminded the local emergency rescue units to conduct prevention work for waterlogging, mountain torrents, floods and landslides.

It is forecast that the rainstorm will last a long time, have a large cumulative rainfall and have a wide range and large impact. The heaviest rainfall is expected to occur on Wednesday and Thursday. 

Influenced by the storm, Liuxi River and Zengjiang River may suffer from the worst flooding in five years and some medium and small-sized rivers could suffer from the worst flooding in decades with water levels rising by three to five meters.  

According to the city’s instructions on the response to major meteorological disasters, school classes should be postponed or canceled if there are yellow or red warnings for heavy rain or thunderstorms. 
 
In order to avoid risks, local residents have been advised to prepare daily supplies for two days and avoid going out. The local relevant departments have organized the supply of rice, edible oil, meat, eggs and vegetables to ensure sufficient supply. All supermarkets and wet markets will operate as usual.  

Heavy rainfall in Central China's Henan Province resulted in 380 people dying or going missing last July. The disaster shocked many people and led to a rethink of how to prevent such events from causing tragic consequences.