China flooding kills dozens

Guangdong is at the forefront of China’s export-driven light manufacturing industries, but there has been no word of damage or disruption to business so far.

 

Torrential rains, mudslides and flooding has also been reported in Hunan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces where at least 48 people died, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

 

Crops destroyed

 

Forecasters say heavy rains are expected to continue for several days [Reuters]

In southern China many rivers have burst their banks, inundating farmland and hundreds of rural villages.

 

Tens of thousands of hectares of crops have been lost as a result, Xinhua said.

 

According to Chinese media some of the worst hit areas have received as much as 146.4 millimetres of rainfall since Friday.

 

Meanwhile forecasters are warning that heavy rains are likely to continue until at least next week.

 

China is often hit by heavy rains and flooding the summer months.

 

Last year flooding and typhoons killed 2,704 people across the country according to the China Meteorological Administration – the second-deadliest year on record after 1998, when some 4,150 died.