More than 40,000 people in China’s Sichuan province have been evacuated due to floods caused by cloudbursts that dumped massive amounts of precipitation over the country.
Over the last two weeks, abnormally high rains have saturated various locations, producing flooding and mudslides that have wrecked houses, damaged infrastructure, and killed numerous people.
The rain and floods in China come as several other parts of the world have seen similar devastation, prompting new concerns about the rate of climate change.
According to CCTV, 300.7 mm (11.8 inches) of rain fell over Yaan City in Sichuan province over 14 hours, creating flash floods and mudslides that devastated homes.
Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, issued a red alert for heavy rain, the highest level in a four-tier warning system, and numerous locations reported record rainfall.
According to the China Meteorological Administration, Guanyun County in Jiangsu Province received 275.4 mm (10.8 inches) of rain overnight on Monday.
At the end of June, Xiatai town in Guangdong province received 439 mm (17.3 inches) of rain every day.
On June 30, Yuanling County in the province of Hunan reported receiving 137.4 mm (5.4 inches) of rain in an hour.
Meteorological authorities have issued a downpour warning for many provinces, including Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Sichuan, Gansu, and the Tibet region, till Thursday morning.
The National Meteorological Centre forecasted more than 70 mm of rain in an hour in some of those places, as well as thunderstorms, gales, and hailstorms.
Throughout July, officials issued repeated warnings about catastrophic weather and geological calamities.
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