Residents clean up and collect belongings after floods in Quingyuan, south China’s Guangdong province, April 24, 2024.
AFP PHOTO / HECTOR RETAMAL
Torrential rains have hit the southern province of Guangdong since Thursday. Four people lost their lives and more than 100,000 residents were evacuated.
Significant flooding is very unusual at this time of year in this lush, subtropical region. According to a senior official, these have a link to the worsening of climate change.
In the village of Shatang, the rising waters affected a tourist area made up of bungalows. Staff and members of local government are helping to clear the mud from the streets, AFP journalists noted.
“Some rooms have been flooded and we are in the process of cleaning all the mud, it will take two or three more days I think. We should be ready to welcome customers again for the May 1 holidays,” explains Liu Yongqi, 25 years old, the co-general manager of Shatang Moonview Homestay.
The resort offers outdoor barbecue, glamping (luxury camping) and fishing.
“The water has really risen very high in recent days, the road was flooded and for five days, we could only reach the rest of the village by small motorboat,” she explains, showing AFP videos she took on her smartphone.
“Luckily, we had enough supplies here anyway.”
The small lake nearby overflowed, swallowing or uprooting many trees, some of which lie in the mud in the oppressive humid heat.
Not far away, chairs, toilet bowls and pieces of sheet metal are scattered.
Employees work to repair a wooden yurt used for collective meals, while others, armed with brooms and wearing waterproof boots, clean the land on which the bungalows stand.
“The damage is significant,” observes Liu Shaofei, 53, father of Liu Yongqi and other co-general director of the place.
“We are still making an assessment. But fortunately we are insured,” he told AFP.
– Further precipitation expected –
Authorities warned of further heavy rains in Guangdong province from Wednesday evening to Friday.
Up to 240 millimeters of rain are expected in many parts of the territory and even up to 300 millimeters in several localities.
Officials also warned the population not to spread “rumors” about possible shortages or rising prices of basic necessities.
“In order to strengthen market price management during the flood season… do not manufacture or disseminate information about rising prices, limited supply chains or increases “significant amounts of demand on the market”, declared the regional market regulatory authority in a notice released Tuesday evening.
The province of Guangdong, emblematic of Chinese manufacturing power with its tens of thousands of export-oriented factories, has some 127 million inhabitants.
Several areas of the province have not experienced such severe flooding this early in the year since records began in the 1950s, according to state media.
“Intensifying climate change” has increased the likelihood of this type of precipitation that typically only occurs in summer, Yin Zhijie, chief hydrology forecaster at the Ministry of Water Resources, told the China National Radio.
China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases contributing to climate change.
It has promised to reduce its emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
