'Dragon boat rain season' comes to an end in Guangdong

The annual "dragon boat rain season" in South China's Guangdong province has ended, characterized by uneven spatial distribution, frequent precipitation and extreme heavy rainfall in some areas, the local meteorological authorities said.

The rain season, which usually begins before the traditional Dragon Boat Festival and lasts for a month, ended with an average precipitation of 465.6 millimeters across the province this year, or 34 percent higher than the usual 346.2 millimeters for the same period, according to the Guangdong Provincial Meteorological Service Bureau.

Frequent precipitations were reported in Guangdong, with the average number of rainy days across the province reaching 28.2 days, or 8.1 days more than the usual days for the same period, it said.

The precipitation marked the highest number of rainy days for this period in history, with six significantly heavy rainfall registered during the time, the local meteorological authorities added.

For example, Pingyuan county and Jiaoling county in Meizhou, Fugang county in Qingyuan witnessed particularly intense heavy rainfall during the rainy season.

Pingyuan, one of the hardest hit areas, recorded a maximum 12-hour rainfall of 366.2 millimeters, marking the second-highest in the history since meteorological records began in 1961.

In Pingyuan, disinfection and sanitization have been carried out in disaster-affected towns and villages since Saturday, to prevent the outbreak of potential infectious diseases after the flood situation.

As of Friday, at least 38 people had been killed and two are missing after catastrophic floods struck Pingyuan in the eastern part of Guangdong since June 16, according to the county flood control department.