Flooding paralyses rush hour traffic in southern Chinese cities amid huge downpour

Two of China’s biggest cities, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, struggled to cope with heavy downpours yesterday, as floods brought rush-hour traffic to a standstill.

Roads across Guangzhou were hit by floods, the Yangcheng Evening News reported, while in some areas the water levels were high enough to inundate buses and flood subway stations.

Between Monday afternoon and 8.30am on yesterday morning, Guangzhou was hit by an average of 47.6mm of rain, People’s Daily reported.

The Qiaonan Street area in Panyu district was one of the worst hit, with 165mm of heavy rainfall in that period.

The city raised a grade two flood warning – it has a three-grade scale – as heavy rain and thunderstorms continued to hit its southern areas throughout yesterday.

Photographs posted online by residents in both cities showed buses and subway stations flooded with water. In some, cars were submerged, with pedestrians making their way to work and school barefoot.