Heavy rains trigger river embankment bursts in S. China

A section of the Xijiang River embankment in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has collapsed. Meanwhile, neighboring Guangdong Province is on high alert ahead of a flood crest converging from the Xijiang and Beijiang Rivers. Weeks of heavy rains have triggered flooding across southern and eastern parts of China claiming at least 57 lives.

High water levels caused a 40-meter section of the Dayaochong embankment in Changzhou Town of Wuzhou city to give way.

The water then beached a temporary dyke being built by local residents. The flooding forced the evacuation of more than 3000 people.

Meanwhile, Guangdong Province is on full alert as floods in the swollen rivers of Xijiang and Beijiang are expected to converge in Foshan City on Monday.

Local flood control officials say fourteen monitoring sites on the two rivers have recorded water levels above danger lines.

Continuous heavy rains triggered landslides, mud-rock flows, damaging bridges and cutting roads.

Severe rains and floods in eight provinces and an autonomous region have so far have killed 57 people and affected nearly 18 million others. Over 1.2 million people have been evacuated.

860,000 hectares of crops have been damaged and nearly 190,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged. The direct economic loss stands at over 10 billion yuan.

The National Meteorological Center forecasts more rains in southern China for the next few days.