Get set for a wet few weeks. Meteorologists are warning of exceptionally heavy rainfall across the Pearl River Delta in the coming 30 days – with precipitation up to 50 percent more than usual.
Authorities are already bracing for fresh floods at the Bei River – a tributary of the Pearl River near Foshan – with preparations for evacuations underway, the South China Morning Post reports.
Water levels in the Pearl River’s major tributaries currently 50 cm higher than normal and reservoirs are worryingly swollen, officials say.
[See more: 2024’s first black rainstorm warning was issued over the weekend]
In Shenzhen, authorities are predicting that nearly a fifth of the city’s annual rainfall will occur in the next 30 days and warning of major disruptions to transport. City officials in Guangzhou are predicting inner city flooding.
Officials are also preparing for flash floods and are stepping up emergency response protocols.The severe weather predictions come in the wake of massive flooding last month, when Guangdong was hit by “once in a century” deluges and the Bei River rose 5.8 metres above the flood warning line, prompting the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.
