China – Thousands Evacuate Floods in Guangzhou

China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) says that heavy rain caused major flooding in parts of Guangdong Province yesterday, 07 May 2017.

Quoting reports from Guangdong Provincial Civil Affairs Department, MCA says that flooding affected several districts of Guangzhou City including Huadu, Zengcheng and Huangpu.

Local media reported that rivers overflowed in Huadu district. Some landslides were also reported in mountainous areas outside the city.

As of 08 May, a total of 8,600 people have been affected with more than 2,800 requiring emergency resettlement. Xinhua, the Chinese News Agency, says this figure is closer to 7,000.

As many as 1,100 people needed emergency rescue and nearly 400 houses have been destroyed or severely damaged. There have been no reports of fatalities.

Rainfall

WMO reported 145.8 mm of rain in Guangzhou in 24 hours from 07 to 08 May. Most of the rain fell in a 6 hour period.

Quoting figures from the Guangdong meteorological bureau, local media said that several areas recorded record levels of rain. In a 14 hour period on 07 May, Jiulongzhen in Huangpu district (northern Guangzhou) reported rainfall of 524mm, followed by 435mm in Xintangzhen in Zengcheng district (eastern Guangzhou) and 334mm in Huadongzhen in Huadu district (northern Guangzhou).

MCA said that at least 12 weather stations recorded more than 250 mm of rain on 07 May.

Social Media

廣州大暴雨 千人受困多間房屋倒塌: 廣州大部地區周日（7日）遭特大暴雨襲擊，多地出現嚴重水浸。初步統計，全市共172間房屋倒塌，近7千名民眾疏散，暫時未有傷亡報告。 https://t.co/JWbblSiHsl #大陸港台新聞 #廣州 #特大暴雨 pic.twitter.com/mcq9FqJxUb

— 希望之聲國際廣播電台 (@SoundofHopeSOH) May 8, 2017

【524.1毫米！暴雨刷新廣州歷史極值】5月7日，特大暴雨襲廣州致172間房倒塌6925人轉移，黃埔區九龍鎮錄得524.1毫米，打破了廣州市日雨量歷史極值。8-9日廣州仍有強降雨，或伴有強對流天氣。 pic.twitter.com/HqH6TDAO5W

— 人民日報 People's Daily (@PDChinese) May 8, 2017

Featured photo: File Photo: Shenzen Highway flooded with typhoon rain, 2008. Credit; dcmaster / Flickr

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