China’s national weather authority issued a heavy rain alert Sunday for portions of southern China, coming just one day after officials warned of mountain flood dangers in areas including Chongqing and Yunnan, with potential emergency evacuations ordered in the most at-risk locations.
The massive rain belt cuts diagonally across southern China, extending from the southwestern province of Yunnan all the way to the Yangtze River Delta along the country’s eastern coastline.
Train travel has also been affected — rail officials suspended certain passenger trains operating on the Shanghai–Kunming railway Sunday because of the heavy rainfall, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
In Yunnan, a number of popular tourist destinations, including the Tiger Leaping Gorge, were shut down temporarily after heavy rain pounded the area over the weekend.
The southwestern Guangxi region, which is still dealing with the aftermath of Typhoon Maysak earlier this month, is now facing another round of heavy rain expected to last through Tuesday.
Water levels in some rivers in Guangxi’s Baise area climbed between one and three metres — roughly three to nine feet — over the course of just 24 hours, CCTV reported Sunday.
Meanwhile, rescue crews are working urgently in Chongqing, where a rain-induced landslide struck a county in the southwest on Friday. Eight people have been confirmed dead, and searchers are still trying to locate 34 individuals who remain missing.
