Floods and landslides left at least 34 people dead and 12 missing, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands, after rainstorms swept across southern China, the government said on Friday. At least 19 died and 11 were missing in the worst-hit province of Guangdong after torrential rain buffeted most of southern China from Tuesday, the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported.
The storms, floods and landslides destroyed 2,675 houses and affected some 650,000 people in Guangdong, forcing the evacuation of at least 36,000, provincial officials said. Water more than 1 metre deep flooded the streets of several southern cities, according to photographs on the China Central Television website and in other state media. Rescuers in the south-western province of Guizhou were searching on Friday for two people missing and one trapped under rubble after a landslide engulfed three homes Thursday night in a village in Nayong county.
The south-eastern coastal city of Xiamen recorded 141 millimetres of rain in four hours early Thursday, the heaviest rainfall for about 60 years. At least one person died and 800 were evacuated in Xiamen, reports said. The worst flooding for about 100 years was reported along a tributary of Guangdong's Beijiang river, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The Qujiang district of Guangdong's Shaoguan city recorded 339.8 millimetres of rain from Tuesday to Thursday morning. At least 10 people died and seven were missing in Shaoguan, local media said. Floods and landslides also blocked roads and cut off electricity to several villages, the reports said. The rainstorms were forecast to weaken on Friday before battering many parts of Guangdong again on Saturday, provincial meteorologists said.