Citizens in Guizhou and other parts of southern China have been swamped by days of record-breaking rainfall as the East Asia monsoon kicked into high gear over the past week.
Vulnerable communities have been warned to seek refuge on higher ground as multiple rivers burst their banks after annual wet season downpours in mountainous Guizhou province, which lies at the southwestern end of a seasonal rain belt that stretches all the way to Japan.
Residents in at least two riverside cities – Congjiang and Rongjiang – each with a population of over 300,000 on the banks of fast-rising rivers and in low-lying areas, were told to flee on Tuesday.
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While China is no stranger to summer floods, some scientists warn that climate change is ushering in heavier and more frequent rain. Massive flooding could trigger unforeseen “black swan” events with extreme consequences such as dam collapses, government officials say.
On a highway to Rongjiang on Tuesday, a viaduct collapsed after a landslide toppled concrete columns and sent one section of the road crashing down the hillside, local media reported.
A cargo truck that had stopped in time as the section ahead of it fell away was perched perilously over the edge while its driver waited to be rescued, a video shared on social media showed.
In other parts of Guizhou, many highway sections were blocked by landslides or were hit by cave-ins.
In cities such as Rongjiang, flooded streets paralysed local traffic and low-lying areas including underground garages and shopping mall basements were under water.
More rain is expected over the next few days, state meteorologists forecast, warning that provinces, including Guizhou, hit by overlapping storms should be especially on their guard.
In contrast, provinces north of the seasonal rain belt such as Henan, Shandong and Hebei, as well as the capital Beijing, sweltered in temperatures just shy of 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Tuesday.
In an annual report, on Monday, the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization, cautioned that Asia was warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, fuelling more extreme weather and exacting a heavy toll on the region.
- Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
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