Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has been reeling from the damage caused by continuous heavy rain and flooding which have taken lives and disrupted traffic in and around the mountainous city.

The latest round of torrential rains hitting the municipality since Monday had killed 15 people and left four others missing as of 7 a.m. Wednesday, local authorities said.

The heavy rains, mainly seen in the areas on the Yangtze River, have triggered floods and geological disasters, affecting the lives of over 130,000 people in 19 districts and counties, according to the municipal bureau of emergency management.

The largest flood peak of the Jialing River this year, a branch of the Yangtze that flows through downtown Chongqing, has passed through densely populated areas without incident.

On Wednesday afternoon, a port in the city's Beibei District saw the river swollen and the water flow speed increased as the flood peak passed through. Some riverside pavements were submerged by the flood.

The torrential rainfall in recent days caused a section of National Highway G242 to collapse at around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, leading to traffic disruptions in Fengjie, a county administrated by Chongqing.

The road affair center staff in Fengjie responded and sent personnel to the disaster area to handle emergency affairs and divert traffic. The center is currently organizing technical personnel to eliminate potential danger at the collapsed section with heavy machinery, and will clean up the road surface once it is deemed safe.

The Chongqing Planning and Natural Resources Bureau and Chongqing Meteorological Bureau have jointly issued a city-wide warning for geological disaster risks.

The authorities have also warned the public to take precautions against secondary disasters caused by geological disasters.

(Cover image via CFP)

(If you have specific expertise and want to contribute, or if you have a topic of interest that you'd like to share with us, please email us at nature@cgtn.com.)