Heavy rains kill 6 in China’s south, disaster alerts issued

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HONG KONG (Reuters) -Heavy weekend rains in China’s southern Guangdong and Guangxi provinces killed at least six people and disrupted trains and power supply, state media said, with alerts issued for severe flooding and geological disasters in parts of the country.

China’s National Meteorological Centre issued multiple heavy rain warnings in the Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangxi and Guangdong regions and the northwestern province of Xinjiang from Sunday to Monday, the official Xinhua news agency said.

It said a yellow alert was issued in parts of Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, indicating a relatively high risk of mountain flooding.

At least 10 railway lines connecting the southern city of Shenzhen with other cities halted operations on Monday due to heavy rainfall, according to Shenzhen railway authorities.

More than 620,000 households in Guangxi lost power in recent days due to rain, state media reported. Local power supplier had since restored electricity for some 600,000 households as of Monday morning.

China has a four-tier weather warning system with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Chinese meteorological data show 2024 was the warmest year for the country since comparable records began over six decades ago, the second straight year in which milestones were broken.

Last year’s warmer weather was accompanied by stronger storms and higher rainfall and led to spikes in power consumption in China, the world’s second-largest economy.

State broadcaster CCTV said heavy rain was also expected from Monday to Tuesday in areas including the far western region of Xinjiang along the Tianshan Mountains.

(Reporting by Farah Master and the Beijing newsroom; editing by Sonali Paul and Mark Heinrich)