Photo: A screenshot from CCTV News

Mountain floods and landslides, caused by torrential rain in Meizhou city, South China's Guangdong Province, on Sunday, have resulted in the deaths of five people. Another 15 are reported missing and 13 people remain stranded as of Monday, according to the provincial flood, drought and wind control headquarters.

According to a statement released by the flood, drought and typhoon control headquarters of Guangdong, heavy rainstorms struck multiple areas in Meizhou on Sunday, causing severe impacts. Sishui Town in Pingyuan County recorded a precipitation of 369.3 millimeters over 24 hours.

As of Monday, the torrential rain has caused multiple mountain floods and landslides in towns including Sishui, Renju and Dongshi in Pingyuan county, and Songyuan town in Meixian district.

On Monday morning, local authorities held a video conference to direct and coordinate emergency rescue and disaster relief efforts in critical areas. They also conducted consultations, assessments, and deployments to enhance the province's response to heavy rainfall and flood disasters, making a concerted effort to safeguard people's lives and property security, and to minimize disaster losses as much as possible.

The provincial flood, drought and typhoon control headquarters elevated the flood emergency response to Level III on Monday morning and dispatched three rescue helicopters to the affected areas to carry out personnel evacuation and material delivery.

Preliminary statistics show that over 200 teams with more than 9,000 personnel have been mobilized for emergency rescue operations in the region. The provincial flood, drought, and typhoon control headquarters have dispatched 18 rescue teams, consisting of 1,835 personnel and 986 pieces of equipment, to Meizhou to carry out emergency rescue efforts.

Due to the heavy rainstorm in Guangdong on Sunday, the Hanjiang River in the Pearl River basin in Guangdong flooded for the fourth time in 2024, with more than 11,000 people being urgently relocated, according to China's Ministry of Water Resources on Monday.

From 8 am to 11 pm on Sunday, the upper reaches of the Hanjiang River experienced heavy rainfall. The water level at the Sanheba hydrological station in Meizhou, situated in the river's main stream, exceeded the designated warning level of 42 meters at 11:40 pm on Sunday, according to the ministry.

More than 130,000 households in Meizhou experienced power outages, with some towns and villages still out of contact as of 7 am on Monday, according to media reports.

Global Times