Continuous rain lashes Southern China
持續暴雨再度影響華南地區

On Tuesday night, rainstorms swept westward lashing the provinces of Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian, and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Central Meteorological authority has issued blue alerts -- its lowest warning -- indicating continuing rainstorms in those regions. The torrential downpours have already caused serious flooding in some parts of Guizhou.

After nearly ten hours of non-stop rain, the streets of Pingba county have become creeks. Soldiers used boats to help the residents of 72 households trapped on their shrinking islands.

"The floods came suddenly and submerged the second floor. We almost died and ran up to the 4th floor in a hurry." A local resident said.

All the households were evacuated within an hour. At a nearby kindergarten flood water destroyed a children’s playground. There were no injuries as parents had been warned to keep their kids at home. In other parts of the city residents couldn’t do anything but watch their cars being swallowed by the floods.

This distressed man is worried about his store across the street that is now a fastflowing "river". Inside the building, another store owner has given up trying to save his inventory that was stored in the basement that has been inundated with flood waters.

"Most of it is dry goods and seasoning sauces. It’s a loss of around seven hundred thousand yuan." A local resident said.

Tap water and electricity have been cut off in some areas, adding to the burden of local residents, who will have to endure even more misery as rain has again been forecast for the region.