Record Rains Kill Six, Displace Hundreds in China

Six people have been killed as record rains battered southwest China, state media reported Thursday, amid a summer of extreme weather across the country.

Torrential downpours hit Dianjiang county, near the megacity of Chongqing, from Wednesday night to Thursday morning, state news agency Xinhua said, citing county officials.

State broadcaster CCTV, referencing the county flood control office, reported that four people had died in “geological disasters” and two had drowned as of 1:50 pm (0550 GMT) on Thursday.

According to Xinhua, one person died after a house collapsed, while at least three others were caught in a landslide.

Nearly 7,000 people have been affected by the rainstorms, and 170 have been ordered to evacuate, Xinhua reported. The agency noted that parts of Dianjiang recorded up to 254.6 millimeters (10 inches) of rain, the highest daily maximum since records began.

China is experiencing a summer of extreme weather, with heavy rains across the east and south coinciding with successive heatwaves in much of the north.

As the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases, which scientists say drive climate change and increase the likelihood of extreme weather, Beijing has committed to peaking its emissions of planet-heating carbon dioxide by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2060.