Further downpours across southern China

Storms have been battering parts of south China’s Guangdong province since the beginning of May, causing widespread disruption as a result of flooded roads and residences.

The state capital, Guangzhou, was particularly badly hit with well over 50mm falling in the hour leading up to noon on Sunday. The build-up of water was so fast in the Tianhe district that 400mm collected on one section of road causing a 3km traffic jam.

Meanwhile, Shanwei recorded 171mm of rain on Sunday. The storms also brought strong wind with speeds in excess of 45kph at times.

Rainstorms in nearby Huizhou City have so far affected almost 10,000 people and have caused eight landslides across the city. As much as 428mm of rain was recorded here in the 24 hours up to 0600GMT on Sunday.

Around 200 people in Huizhou’s Shatoujiao village had to be evacuated from their homes. At least 10 houses collapsed during the rain, and 20 villagers were trapped.

The heavy rain stretched right across southeastern China and into Taiwan. Taizhong, which is Taiwan’s third largest city, located to the west of the island, recorded 94mm of rain in 24 hours.

The heaviest rains are expected to move north into central China over the next few days. However, another spell of heavy rain is possible by the weekend.