Deaths during China’s annual summer floods have fallen sharply from the thousands each year in the 1990s, as authorities beefed up flood control measures, such as dam construction.
Yet extreme weather in recent years, including record-breaking rainfall, has made China vulnerable to intense flooding and disasters such as sudden mudslides, often in its mountainous but populated areas.
On Tuesday, officials in southern Guangxi upgraded a flood warning advisory, state broadcaster CCTV said, adding that about 23,600 people were affected in 10 counties.
Flash flood warnings were also issued in the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangxi, where heavy rain fell for two days, state media said.
Weather forecasters expect more heavy rain in Guangxi region, and the provinces of Jiangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Anhui, which could lead to more landslides and flooding.
The waters in many rivers have exceeded warning levels, official media said.
Meanwhile, China’s north is wilting under some of the year’s hottest weather.
The mercury was expected to soar to up to 39 degrees Celsius in Beijing and the surrounding areas of Tianjin and Hebei on Tuesday, the National Meteorological Centre said.
Authorities have also moved to offer drought prevention and disaster relief in seven provinces across China’s north, east and centre.
China is enduring a summer of extreme weather, which scientists say is made more common by climate change.
Greenhouse gases, of which China is the world’s biggest emitter, are a key contributor to climate change.
