QINGYUAN: Unprecedented rainfall has inundated cities in southern China’s densely populated Pearl River Delta, raising concerns about the region’s vulnerability to increasingly severe floods triggered by extreme weather events.
The province, often referred to as the “factory floor of the world,” is no stranger to summer floods. However, the intensity and duration of the recent downpours have surpassed previous records, prompting fears about the adequacy of the region’s flood defenses.
Guangdong Province has been lashed by exceptionally heavy and prolonged rainfall since Thursday, ushering in an earlier-than-usual onset of the annual flooding season in May and June. The relentless storms have wreaked havoc across the province, affecting millions of residents.
In Qingyuan, a city with a population of four million, residents are grappling with significant losses. “My rice fields are fully flooded, my fields are gone,” lamented Huang Jingrong, 61, highlighting the extent of the devastation caused by the floods.
Over the weekend, waterways throughout Guangdong overflowed, including the river near Huang’s village, exacerbating the plight of affected communities.
The catastrophic floods serve as a stark reminder of the urgent need for enhanced flood management strategies and infrastructure to mitigate the impact of extreme weather events in the region.
