Floodwaters swept a still-running compact hatchback through an alleyway in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong as an elderly man looked on, a video shared Monday by The Washington Post shows.
The video, originally obtained by Reuters and dated Apr. 19, showed the floodwaters knocking the car’s rear against a wall, drawing a surprised reaction from another bystander while the seemingly impassive elderly man observed from beneath an umbrella. The floodwaters swept the car downstream.
Guangdong braced itself for record-breaking floods following intense rainstorms over the weekend, according to multiple reports.
Authorities in the province, which borders Hong Kong and Macau, issued 148 rainstorm alerts Sunday, adding that the Bei River could swell to levels last known 50 years ago, The Washington Post reported. Rainfall for April was reportedly projected to be at record levels.
The river, a tributary of the Pearl River, was projected to reach 37.3 meters (122 feet), or about 5.8 meters (3.6 feet), above the warning line in the early hours Monday, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. Guangdong’s capital, Guangzhou, and other cities such as Qingyuan, Shaoguan, and Huizhou, have been hit hard, with weather warnings running for three consecutive days, according to the report.
Authorities evacuated more than 85,000 people from their homes and over 1,000 schools were closed Monday, while power cuts affected no fewer than 1.16 million households, according to the report. (REPORT: Heart-Pounding Footage Of West Coast Storms Go Viral As Almost 40 Million People At-Risk)
Heavy rains continued to batter southern China on Monday, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes as rescuers raced to evacuate those trapped by flooding and locate at least 11 missing residents. https://t.co/abk2DxY52C pic.twitter.com/8n9EBggU9C
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 22, 2024
A 60-kilometer (about 37-mile) cross-country race through Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province, over the weekend was aborted as runners labored through flash floods and tried to avoid lightning strikes, a report published on China’s Weibo and cited by The Washington Post indicated. A video accompanying the report showed what appeared to be the runners in raincoats trying to ford a roiling stream by means of a rope. The contestants complained that the rescue response by the race’s organizing committee was slow, according to the report. No casualties were reported.
The current flood is the second to hit Guangdong in April, as thunderstorms first broke in southern Guangzhou two weeks ago. The flood season had never started so early in Guangdong since 1998 when record-keeping of the season began, the SCMP reported. The rains are expected to last the next three days.
Guangdong is China’s economic powerhouse, with a population of over 127 million people, according to The Washington Post.