(Beijing) At least six people were injured in landslides on Sunday in China, which expects severe flooding in parts of the south due to heavy rains that have fallen continuously since Thursday, according to state media .
Torrential rains have hit Guangdong province (around Guangzhou) since Thursday, swelling rivers in the Pearl River Delta, China’s manufacturing heartland, and causing deluges in mountainous areas.
State broadcaster CCTV said rains caused landslides in six villages near the northern city of Jiangwan and left people trapped.
Photos released by CCTV show seaside homes destroyed by a wall of mud and people sheltering in a waterlogged public sports field.
No deaths were immediately reported and the total number of people trapped was not specified. But according to CCTV, six people were “trapped and injured” by the landslides and were airlifted to the nearby town of Shaoguan.
Weather alerts were issued in this province and the national meteorological office warned of significant storms in coastal areas on Sunday evening and Monday.
Aerial footage broadcast by CCTV showed flooded buildings and a pagoda emerging from the waters.
Citing the provincial hydrology office, CCTV said three localities in the Bei River basin “will experience floods seen about once a century” due to “the impact of heavy rainfall.”
The Pearl River Delta is one of the most densely populated regions in China, with Guangdong alone home to some 127 million people.
Parts of neighboring Jiangxi and Fujian provinces are also expected to experience severe rainstorms on Sunday evening.
China is no stranger to extreme weather events, but in recent years the country has been hit by severe floods, severe droughts and record heat.
Climate change caused by human-emitted greenhouse gases is making extreme weather events more frequent and intense, and China is the world’s largest emitter of these gases.