Floods in Fujian: Coastal rains pelt southeastern China province

World
Europe

02:11

With warmer weather comes wetter skies, severe rains have come to the southern and southeastern region of the country. Since Monday, heavy rains have hit Xiamen city, capital of Fujian province in southeastern China. The city's meteorologists have released their first red alert -- the most severe one -- since 2016. CGTN's Sun Tianyuan has more.

The rainfall continued on Tuesday. In the last 24 hours, the rainfall in some areas of Xiamen reached 290 millimeters. The local government immediately initiated its emergency plan for a major meteorological disaster, once the rain began pounding the area on Monday.

XIAMEN METEOROLOGICAL OFFICE "The heavy rain started to fall at around 10 o'clock in the morning. Within three hours, some regions of the island of Xiamen saw more than 100 millimeters of rain."

Many streets in Xiamen are flooded, with water shin-deep in some places.

RESIDENT "Everything, including all the electrical appliances, is soaked."

WANG RUYI, POLICE OFFICER XIAMEN TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTER "With water surging, some sewers were jammed with things like branches and plastic bags. The police have to check and clean all sewers."

A couple was trapped in their home near the local reservoir. A local emergency team was sent immediately to offer supplies.

The campus of Xiamen University was among the worst flooded areas.

XIE YINHUI DIRECTOR OF LOGISTICS, XIAMEN UNIVERSITY "As of half past seven in the evening, we have drained away all the water off the campus."

According to the National Meteorological Center, southern China will see more storms and severe winds on Wednesday. So don't forget to take an umbrella when going out these days or you just might want to stay in altogether. Sun Tianyuan, CGTN.