Sharjah24 - Reuters: Two provinces in south China upgraded flood warnings on Tuesday as rivers overflowed their banks and waters reached record levels, forcing people from their homes and disrupting work after weeks of pounding rain, state media reported.
Guangdong province's Shaoguan city, where average rainfall since late May has broken records, raised its flood alert to the highest, Level 1.
Authorities asked residents of communities along river banks and in low-lying neighbourhoods to move to higher ground, after floodwaters hit a 50-year high, state television reported.
The city's flood, drought and wind control headquarters said shutdowns may be enforced at construction sites, businesses, public transport and docks while workers unable to show up at work should not be forced to do so.
The peak discharge of the swollen Beijiang River near Guangdong's capital Guangzhou is expected to reach 20,000 cubic metres per second, a flow of a size that probably occurs "once every 100 years," the local water conservancy bureau told Chinese media.
Guangdong's Qingyuan city, near Shaoguan, also raised its flood alert to the highest level at around noon as the waters rose.
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