QINGYUAN: Following record-breaking rainfall, floods swept through heavily populated towns in southern China’s Pearl River Delta, raising concerns about the region’s resilience to further significant deluges brought on by extreme weather occurrences.
Summer floods are common in the province that was formerly known as the “factory floor of the world.”
Guangdong has been experiencing exceptionally high, persistent, and widespread rainfall since Thursday. Strong storms have also brought an earlier-than-normal start to the province’s yearly flooding season in May and June.
The people of Qingyuan, a four million-person relatively small metropolis, counted their losses. Huang Jingrong, 61, told Reuters, “My fields are gone, my rice fields are fully flooded.”
Guangdong’s waterways, including the river next to Huang’s hometown, overflowed throughout the weekend.
