The heaviest rainfall system this year is hitting South China, especially Guangdong province, and residents have been advised to not go out, schools have been closed and subways stations are preparing to suspend operations amid the risk of flooding.
Starting from Monday, most eastern and southern parts of China including Jiangxi, Guizhou and Guangdong provinces have experienced their heaviest rainfall since the start of the flood season earlier this year, and the fierce weather front will keep drenching the area until Sunday, the National Meteorological Center said.
In Guangdong province, local authorities in several cities including Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Jiangmen have suspended classes in kindergartens, primary and high schools from Wednesday to Thursday.
Guangzhou, the provincial capital, warned its residents against going out and that they should prepare enough daily necessities for them to stay home for at least two days.
The city government said the heavy rainfall may also cause the suspension of production, as well as water and power supplies.
Zhang Tao, the National Meteorological Center's chief forecaster, said most of the rain in the country is hitting the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and a rain-affected belt has stretched across the Pearl River Basin this week. During the weather front, continuous heavy rain will pose high risks of natural disasters to the area.
As of noon Wednesday, Zhuhai and Qingyuan cities in the province issued red warnings for torrential rain, the highest level of the province's four-tier alert system. A monitoring station in Zhuhai recorded 326 millimeters of rain from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning, according to the Guangdong Meteorological Service.
A video compilation on the China Youth Daily website showed people on Tuesday in Heyuan city, Guangdong, driving their scooters through knee-high water in an urban street and local firefighters evacuating the elderly residing in areas at risk of landslides to safer areas.
The center said the most powerful rainfall period nationwide will last until Thursday.
Zhang, the forecaster, said that the collision of equal strength cold and warm air has caused the rain-affected belt to stabilize in the area from Guangdong to Fujian province.
"That's why the rainfall lasted for such a long time and was so fierce, and the accumulated rainfall so large," he said.
