(Beijing) The death toll from heavy rains and floods that hit Guangdong province, in southern China, this week has risen to 38, state media reported Friday.
Two people are also missing, the public television channel CCTV added at midday, specifying that “due to the severity of the disaster, the search and rescue of people trapped is difficult and take time.”
More than 55,000 people in total were affected by the heavy rainfall, according to CCTV.
They caused landslides and floods throughout the week, destroying thousands of houses and numerous roads, according to the same source.
“100-year floods… [or] the largest since records began” have occurred in some areas, CCTV reported.
A previous report from the authorities on Thursday reported nine people having died in these floods.
China is suffering locally this year from extreme weather conditions, a phenomenon increasingly common with climate change, of which greenhouse gas emissions are one of the main causes, scientists explain. However, this country is the world’s largest emitter.