Thousands evacuated in China after heaviest rains

BEIJING: The heaviest rainfall in decades has triggered floods and landslides in southern China, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people, state media reported.

The downpours have dangerously swelled waterways in the low-lying Pearl River basin in recent days, threatening manufacturing, shipping and logistics operations at a time when supply chains are already stressed because of China’s strict Covid-19 controls.

The average rainfall in Guangdong, Fujian and Guangxi provinces between early May and the middle of June reached 621 millimetres, the highest since 1961, according to China’s National Meteorological Centre. State media photos showed people huddled on camp beds in schools converted into temporary shelters in Guangdong’s Shaoguan city, and hundreds of tents erected on a sports ground.