As many as 46,400 people were evacuated overnight as heavy rain hit China’s Sichuan province since Saturday, according to local media.
Global Times reported that seven cities and prefectures, including Chengdu, Guangyuan, and Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, were among the impacted areas. Among these cities and prefectures in Sichuan, the north and northwest of Chengdu will see heavy rainfall this weekend while cities of Mianyang, Ya’an, Guangyuan, Deyang, Aba and Garze prefectures will also see moderate to heavy rain, as per Global Times.
The highest rainfall occurred in Xiling snow mountain ski resort in Chengdu from 5 pm Saturday to 7:30 am (local time) Sunday, reaching 165.1 millimeters.
Notably, the Central Meteorological Observatory issued a blue alert for rainstorms on Sunday morning. Local authorities warned that continued high temperatures have increased the risk of natural disasters in parts of Sichuan, where drought in the province has made the soil loose or caused it to harden, and short-term heavy rainfall could potentially cause mudslides and other extreme natural disasters. The National Meteorological Center (NMC) had issued a yellow alert for high temperatures for some parts of the country on Sunday morning, including eastern Sichuan, with the highest temperature even exceeding 40 degred celcius.