China lifted the red alert in force in part of the south of the country on Tuesday. It was put in place because deadly torrential rains in the province of Guangdong, the most populous in the country (127 million inhabitants) and the manufacturing heart of the Asian giant. It was particularly in force in Shenzhen, populated by 17.7 million inhabitants and bordering Hong Kong.
Heavy rainfall in southern China is not unusual and usually occurs in summer. But since Thursday, torrential rains have hit Guangdong. The bad weather has, according to the latest reports, caused at least four deaths and led to tens of thousands of evacuations.
The country has faced extreme weather conditions in recent months, exacerbated, according to scientists, by climate change. Climate change caused by human-emitted greenhouse gases is making extreme weather events more frequent and more intense.
Already in September, Shenzhen was hit by torrential rains, the heaviest ever recorded since weather records began in 1952, according to state media.
1. A playground in Qingyuan, Guangdong
2. A sea wall in Qingyuan City
3. A train crosses a bridge over a flooded area in Qingyuan
4. A flooded island in Qingyuan
5. A flooded park in Qingyuan
6. A car is swept away by the current in Jiangwan, Guangdong
7. A building is flooded in a park in Qingyuan
8. In Qingyuan, this river has a very strong flow and overflows
9. This Qingyuan road remains usable in the middle of a flooded area
Elsewhere, bad weather caused landslides in mountainous areas. The army was called in to help clean up the damage.
