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At least four people lost their lives as floods swamped cities in the densely populated Pearl River Delta in China.

A search is currently underway for 10 people who are missing after record-breaking rains in the area on Monday, resulting in the evacuation of about 110 000 people.

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About 25 800 people are currently in emergency shelters, Xinhua reports.

Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, received a cumulative rainfall of 60.9cm this month, the highest monthly rainfall since record-keeping began in 1959.

As reported by The Guardian, the country’s highest-level red rainstorm warning was issued for parts of Guangdong and Shenzhen. As per the city’s meteorological observatory, the target areas experienced ‘heavy to very heavy downpours’ and warnings added a ‘very high’ risk of flash floods.

The two cities are among the hardest-hit areas of the torrential rains that began last week.

According to the Xinhua news agency, the official state media for China, three people died in Zhaoqing City, while one rescuer lost their life in Shaoguan City.

The neighbouring Jiangxi province also suffered extensive flooding, resulting in 459 people being evacuated. The rains affected 1 500 hectares of crops and caused more than $5.7 million in financial losses.

Guangdong, which is prone to summer floods, experienced its heaviest downpours in six decades in June 2022, when hundreds of thousands of people had to be evacuated.

Since Thursday, the province experienced unusually heavy, sustained and widespread rainfall. Waterways overflowed and in some villages, flood waters reached second-storey houses.

In Qingyuan, a city home to approximately four million people, rescuers had to brave neck-high water to evacuate residents.

The Guardian reports that weather events in China have become more intense and unpredictable due to global warming.

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Picture: Jéan Béller / Unsplash

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