Heavy rains caused severe flooding in the cities of southern China's Pearl River Delta, raising concerns about the area's ability to handle even worse floods in the future. This region, often called the "factory floor of the world," usually sees floods in the summer. In June 2022, the situation was especially bad in Guangdong, where the heaviest rain in sixty years forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes.
Since last Thursday, Guangdong has experienced very heavy and constant rain, causing early floods in the area. These floods usually happen in May and June. In Qingyuan, a smaller city with 4 million people, residents are dealing with their losses.
Huang Jingrong, a 61-year-old farmer, said, "My rice fields are completely underwater, I've lost my fields." He and other farmers from his village are staying under a bridge, with some of their things, including a washing machine.
Huang told Reuters, "I won't make any money this year, only losses," and he thinks he lost about 100,000 yuan ($13,800). He added, "What can we do? We won't get any money back for our losses."
Over the weekend, rivers in Guangdong, including the one near Huang's village, overflowed. The floodwater was so high it reached the second floor of houses and destroyed fields of rice and potatoes.
In other areas of Qingyuan, rescue teams worked in very deep water to help people, including an old lady who was stuck in waist-deep water in her apartment.
Some people stayed on the upper floors of their houses, waiting for the floodwaters to go down while friends brought them food by boat. Lin Xiuzheng, who works in online retail sales and lives in Qingyuan, said that before 2022, it didn't rain this much and the floodwaters were never this high.
Scientists say that weather in China is getting more severe and less predictable due to global warming. This has led to extreme rain and drought hitting China's economy hard, often at the same time. In April, many areas in Guangdong broke records for rainfall. Cities like Shaoguan, Zhaoqing, and Jiangmen, near Guangzhou, were also heavily flooded.
The heavy rains have resulted in the deaths of four people, and ten others are still missing in the province, according to reports.
Additionally, 36 houses have fallen apart and 48 have major damage, causing an economic loss of about 140.6 million yuan.
A representative from Camelot PCB, a company that makes circuit boards for Tesla and other electric vehicle companies, said that despite the floods, their work is going on as usual. Polyrocks Chemical, a plastics company that works with big tech companies like Apple, Huawei, and Samsung, also reported that their operations are unaffected.
Many rivers in the area are still dangerously full, with recent rainfall being two to three times heavier than usual for this time of year. Weather experts explained that the unusually severe weather in southern China is due to a strong subtropical high, a type of persistent high-pressure area. This high pressure has caused warmer temperatures and pulled in more moist air from the South China Sea and the Bay of Bengal, leading to heavy rains.
FAQs
Q1. What caused the floods in southern China?
Heavy rains have caused rivers to overflow, leading to severe flooding in the region.
Q2. Which areas are most affected by the floods?
The Pearl River Delta, including cities like Guangdong and Qingyuan, are heavily impacted.
Q3. What is being done to help those affected by the floods?
Rescue teams are working to save trapped residents and provide relief, while friends and community members are delivering food and supplies by boat.
Q4. Are the floods related to climate change?
Scientists believe that global warming is making weather patterns more severe and unpredictable, contributing to the intensity of the floods.
Reference