Macao has a “high risk” of being hit with torrential rain early next week, the local weather forecaster said in a statement yesterday.
According to the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (known by its Portuguese initials SMG), a southwest monsoon is expected to become active over the weekend, resulting in unstable weather and potential rainstorms along Guangdong’s coast early next week.
Based on the SMG’s forecast, accumulated precipitation level in the Pearl River Delta region is expected to be relatively high between 3 and 5 August. Parts of the area may be hit with a cumulative rainfall of more than 100 millimetres in a single day.
The SMG also warned of the possibility of severe convective weather that could result in frequent thunderstorms, strong winds and possibly even hail.
According to the SMG’s latest 7-day forecast, Macao’s weather is expected to be wet over the next several days, with showers and some thunderstorms predicted.
Meteorologists in Guangdong also expect most cities and counties in the province to be hit with showers between today and tomorrow. On Sunday, heavy rain is due to impact a large majority of the cities and counties in northern Guangdong and the Pearl River Delta.
The incoming wet weather in the region is a cause for concern, as Guangdong has seen a recent spike in cases of chikungunya fever, a disease spread by mosquitoes, which thrive on such conditions.
In response, Zhuhai’s weather forecaster issued a statement on Wednesday to remind residents to take preventive measures and to take note of the government’s two-week long city-wide mosquito eradication campaign, which runs daily between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm.
[See more: Macao could be hit by up to 8 typhoons this year, says local forecaster]
Outside of Guangdong, northern China has also been severely hit by severe rainfall and flooding, with various media outlets reporting that the extreme weather had resulted in 44 deaths and 9 missing in Beijing, as of yesterday. Over 300,000 people in the capital have also had to be evacuated.
Among the casualties were 31 senior residents housed in the Taishitun Town Elderly Care Centre in Beijing’s Miyun district. A large proportion of the 69 residents in the aged care facility were reportedly suffering from disabilities.
“For a long time, this senior centre was in the town’s centre and was safe, and as such was not included in the preparedness plans,” Yu Weiguo, a Miyun government official was cited as saying. He admitted that there were “flaws” and inadequacies in the authorities’ plans and “understanding of extreme weather.”
Elsewhere, Hebei and Shanxi province have been significantly impacted by torrential rain. As of 29 July, 8 people were reported dead and 4 missing from a landslide that occurred in Hebei’s Luanping county. Meanwhile, a bus in Shanxi province’s Tianzhen county was swept away by the rain, resulting in 10 deaths and 4 missing, as of yesterday.
