Global Courant
BEIJING — Nonstop heavy rains lashed parts of southwest China on Friday, flooding cities, inundating roads and partially inundating buildings.
A particularly hard first bout of summer rains, known locally as “dragon boat water”, saw the city of Beihai in the Guangxi region log 453mm on Thursday.
That was a regional daily record for June, according to the China Meteorological Administration.
Cars were half submerged in the streets of Beihai. Water poured down a flight of stairs at a multi-story building as firefighters rushed to rescue residents, videos posted on social media showed.
Rain is forecast to continue in southern China for the next few days, while the northeast is also expected to be hit by sudden thunderstorms, the weather bureau reported.
China, prone to flooding, is increasingly warning of more extreme weather due to climate change.
Guangxi experienced a rare extreme drought in May, with rainfall dropping to the lowest levels in 60 years.
China’s central Henan province, China’s breadbasket, was recently hit by heavy rainfall that caused crops to sprout or were hit by blight, raising concerns about food security. REUTERS
