BEIJING: Chinese weather forecasters on Monday (Aug 28) warned several provinces to expect torrential rain and flash floods over the next two days as unrelenting downpours wreak havoc on the country.
More than three thousand people were evacuated in northwestern Hunan province over the weekend as heavy rain was unleashed on Sangzhi, Shimen and Yongshun counties, and Zhangjiajie City, according to state media.
Sangzhi recorded the heaviest rainfall this year, with maximum precipitation reaching 256 mm overnight from Saturday to Sunday, according to state broadcaster China Central Television.
It was the most extensive and widespread rain in Sangzhi since 1998, CCTV said.
China has been gripped by weeks of rains and floods amid an unusually wet summer. In late July, storms from Typhoon Doksuri caused record rains to hit China in over a decade, with Beijing experiencing its heaviest rainfall in 140 years.
China’s government has called for more precautions against flooding as Typhoon Saola now makes it way across the South China Sea, with forecasts expecting it to land at Guangdong province as early as this Friday.