The bad weather has hit the city located at the foot of mountains. So far there are 14 missing and over 900 thousand people affected. The most serious damage reported in Guangdong. Landslides have devastated the nine cities, including Guangzhou, the provincial capital.

Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) -  The toll from devastating flooding that has hit the province of Guangdong and the Fujian, in southern China is of 50 dead, 14 missing and thousands displaced. Torrential rains, landslides and mudslides buried more than 2,700 houses. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, at least 900 thousand people have been affected by the tragedy.

The government has sent rescue teams to the mountainous areas, which are currently the most devastated. The heavy rains in recent days swept nine cities including that of Guangzhou, the provincial capital.

Zhang Dong, head of Guangdong Meteorological Services said that "the disaster was caused by the huge amount of rain that lasted for many hours, triggering floods and landslides." Yongmin Zhong, a resident of the county of Shixing in northern Guangdong, said that many houses in the area were already flooded on Thursday night. "The water of the river in front of my house - he says - is several meters above normal levels. My whole family was barricaded in the house."

Torrential rains have also affected the neighboring provinces. In Xiamen, in Fujian, the weather caused five deaths. Zeng Demeng, head of rescue teams operating in the area, reports that many roads in the city are flooded with water exceeding one meter, flooding subways and tunnels. About 600 buildings collapsed and 800 people were trapped in their cars for several hours.

According to meteorologists the wave of bad weather will continue over the next few days, with the risk of new floods.

 

 

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