An aerial drone photo taken on June 16, 2024 shows the flood in Wuyishan of Nanping city, East China's Fujian Province. Photo: Xinhua

Hundreds of thousands of people have been affected and severe economic losses have been caused as torrential rains continued to wreak havoc in the southern part of China, triggering mountain floods, landslides, and waterlogging that damaged homes, blocked roads and claimed lives in provinces and regions including Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi.

In East China's Jiangxi Province, flooding started on June 11, affecting 481,000 in 70 counties and nine cities such as Nanchang and Pingxiang, with 3,398 people relocated and 2,806 people resettled urgently as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the provincial flood control headquarters.

The direct economic losses caused by the crops affected, the collapsed and damaged houses amounted to 470 million yuan ($64.79 million), with the disaster situation still under further statistical verification.

Heavy rains hammered South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and flooding has occurred in 11 cities and 43 counties including Nanning and Guilin since Monday.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 181,500 people in the region have been affected by the natural disaster, with 3,825 relocated, 1,382 resettled, and another 667 provided with emergency aid.

The damage to the crops and houses have led to direct economic losses of 185.53 million yuan.

In East China's Fujian Province, the heavy rain has caused waterlogging and landslides in multiple counties. As of Monday morning, 47,800 people in Wuping county have been affected, including the deaths of four people and another two who have gone missing.

The provincial meteorological bureau assessed that this rainstorm in Wuping county reached the standards for an extreme weather event in terms of the range, maximum daily precipitation, maximum course precipitation and comprehensive intensity.

The preliminary estimation shows that the direct economic losses caused by the damaged houses, crops, roads, dykes, and telecommunication facilities will amount to 415 million yuan.

In South China's Guangdong Province, heavy rainstorms hit Meizhou city and triggered severe flooding, which led to people being trapped, houses collapsing, roads being washed away, and disruptions in power and communication.

As of 11 am on Tuesday, the heavy rain in Meizhou had affected more than 164,000 people, with 67,035 people relocated. By Monday, flash floods and landslides in Meizhou had resulted in five deaths and 15 people have gone missing. Another 13 were stranded, according to local authorities.

In Central China's Hunan Province, heavy rainstorms swept through 70 counties across the province between 7 am on Sunday and 7 am on Monday, with 27 counties hit by torrential rain, triggering flooding and landslides.

As of Monday afternoon, Suining county in the province said 28,140 people in 15 towns had been affected by flooding, but no casualties had yet been reported.

Global Times