By: TPA News Desk | editor@thepointafricanews.com

Southern China has been hit hard by heavy rainfall and flooding over the past week. More than 300,000 people have been affected, and about 70,000 have been forced to leave their homes. The flooding, made worse by Tropical Storm Wutip and the early arrival of the monsoon season, has caused rivers to rise to dangerous levels. Water has flooded homes, damaged roads and power lines, and stretched the limits of emergency services.

In Guangdong Province, the Suijiang River overflowed in Huaiji County, turning streets into rivers. In some places, the water rose halfway up the first floor of buildings. Rescue teams used inflatable boats to help evacuate around 30,000 people and deliver food and water to those stuck in their homes.

The flooding is not limited to Guangdong. Other provinces, including Hunan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Anhui, Henan, and Hubei, are also under red alert for flooding, the highest warning level in China. In Guangxi, landslides caused by the rain have killed people, and in Guangdong, emergency teams are working to evacuate patients from hospitals, schoolchildren, and rural families.

Officials have issued warnings across the region and sent in rescue workers to help those at risk. Experts say the combination of early seasonal rains, strong storms like Wutip, and extreme weather linked to climate change has pushed China’s flood control systems to the limit. Some parts of southern China are even facing drought at the same time as others are flooding. Roads, power lines, and communication systems have been damaged, and in many places, water levels have reached highs not seen in decades.