The weather forced a slew of flight cancellations at Guangzhou’s airport, one of the country’s busiest.
Stranded passengers posted photos and footage of water pouring into the facility from cracks in the roof, causing severe flooding.
More rain is forecast for the province over the next five days, with a high risk of heavy downpours, hail and tornadoes.
Guangzhou authorities announced on Saturday that the city’s total rainfall for the month had already reached 455.8mm, the highest for April since 1951.
Retired teacher Zhu Yinghua said the water was making its way inside buildings.
“Days of heavy rains have caused rainwater to penetrate from the building’s exterior walls to the walls of the bedrooms,” Zhu said.
The downpours have also added uncertainties to the ongoing Canton Fair, the country’s biggest trade exhibition.
The fair, a barometer of China’s exports, was crowded with foreign buyers during its first of three phases between Apr 15 and Apr 20 but the flow seemed to have slowed in recent days due to the weather, exporters said.
Various parts of the country have been hit by deadly extreme weather in recent years. The eastern province of Jiangxi was battered by intense winds and cloudbursts in March, killing three people. And in September, two tornadoes in the eastern province of Jiangsu killed 10 people.
This article was first published on SCMP.
