11 missing, tens of thousands evacuated as storms strike south China

Eleven people are missing following storms that battered southern China, state media said Monday, with tens of thousands evacuated away from the torrential downpours.

Heavy rain has descended upon the vast southern province of Guangdong in recent days, swelling rivers and raising fears of severe flooding that state media said could be of the sort only “seen around once a century”.

“A total of 11 people are missing after continuous heavy rainfall hit many parts of (Guangdong) in recent days,” state news agency Xinhua said, citing the local emergency management department.

More than 53,000 people have been relocated across the province, it added.

Of those, more than 45,000 were evacuated from the northern Guangdong city of Qingyuan, which straddles the banks of the Bei River, a tributary in the wider Pearl River Delta, state media reported Sunday.

Heavy rain is expected to…