Death toll reaches 22 in China rains, 20 more missing

• Some areas report “record-breaking rainfall” in recent days.
• Authorities say floods triggered school and work suspensions.
• Relief funds allocated as multiple regions face severe damage.
  

BEIJING: The death toll from heavy rains across central and southern China since the weekend has risen to 22, state media reports showed Wednesday, with 20 more people still unaccounted for.

Natural disasters and extreme weather events are common in China, particularly in the summer, when some regions experience intense rainfall while others bake in searing heat.

Several areas across China have been hit by “record-breaking rainfall” in recent days, state-run broadcaster CGTN said, triggering school and work suspensions as well as allocation of relief funds.

Five were reported dead and 11 others missing in the rugged central province of Hunan, state news agency Xinhua said Wednesday.

A report the previous day by Xinhua said that more than 61,500 people in one provincial county were affected by the downpour, without elaborating.

In the southern region of Guangxi, 10 people were confirmed dead on Tuesday after a truck plunged into a swollen river while attempting to cross on Saturday evening, Xinhua said.

The first death in that incident was reported on Sunday.

The nearby province of Guizhou has also been battered by heavy rains, resulting in four deaths and five more missing.

Further north, in central Hubei province, three were dead and four missing in floods caused by torrential rains that also collapsed some structures and severed communication to some villages.

Government authorities allocated 120 million yuan ($17.6 million) in disaster relief funds for five affected regions on Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

An additional 30 million yuan was also allocated for Guizhou province, which had suffered heavy “casualties and property losses”, Xinhua said, citing the the National Development and Reform Commission.

Nearly 24,000 people were evacuated in affected areas across Hunan, Guizhou and Hubei, according to an AFP tally.

Weather forecasts indicate that the region is expected to experience continuous rainfall in the coming days.

Scientists warn that the intensity and frequency of global extreme weather events will increase as the planet continues to heat up because of fossil fuel emissions.

China is the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, but it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon-neutral by 2060.