Incident

Home page

Incident

8 killed, 400,000 affected by Guangdong rainstorm

25 May 2014 02:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The continuing rainfall in Guangdong province saw a new record being set on Friday. So far, at least 8 people have been killed, and more than 400,000 people have been affected in the cities of Guangzhou and Qingyuan, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Water levels in seven rivers have reached above the alarming mark. The rain has also impacted traffic, communications, and schools. Torrents of flood waters and landslides have hit rural areas.

A major downpour like this is said to occur once every two hundred years. Friday’s downpour caused secondary disasters everywhere with water levels reaching hazardous levels. Crops were submerged, and villagers had to climb to their roofs of their houses to escape the rising water.

In Yangshan, flood water from upper streams hit this town, flooding it completely. Electricity and water were cut off in many villages, forcing residents to use their canoes to help themselves.

In Heping county, the non-stop rain caused a landslide, burying a makeshift residence for miners, trapping seven people. After eight hours of rescue efforts, six of them had died. Only one made it out alive and is still hospitalized.

When water levels passed safety standards in some sections of the high-speed railway, authorities slowed down some of the trains. One landslide also caused a power outage in one section, leading to several trains in Guangzhou Station getting delayed.

The rainstorm weakened on Saturday, but as the rain belt moves north, downpours are still expected in areas south of the Yangtze river.