Beijing: Mountain floods in central China have left four people dead and one missing. Heavy rain is expected to continue in most parts of the country on Monday, state media said.
337.8 millimeters (13.3 inches) of rain fell early Saturday morning in a city in Hunan province, causing “severe flooding,” according to the Xinhua news agency.
“Four people have died and another has been missing since Monday morning.”
Elsewhere in the province on Sunday, heavy rains triggered mudslides into houses in a village, killing eight people, state media said.
The National Meteorological Center (NMC) on Monday forecast heavy rain in several provinces in central, eastern and southern China until Thursday.
It also issued a red warning for “very heavy rain” until 2pm (6am GMT) on Tuesday in parts of Anhui, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces.
The NMC said that 250-270 mm of rainfall may occur in such areas.
More than 54,000 people were evacuated Sunday afternoon after heavy rain in Huangshan, a popular tourist town in eastern Anhui province, Xinhua news agency reported.
Xinhua said the current heavy rains in the region started on June 18, and dozens of attractions were closed.
China has experienced extreme weather conditions and extraordinary temperatures in recent months.
Scientists say climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions makes extreme weather events more frequent and intense.
China is the world’s largest emitter, but has pledged to cut carbon emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2060.
Torrential rains in China’s densely populated Guangdong province last week caused floods and landslides, state media reported on Friday.
