May 4th, heavy rainstorms hit multiple areas in Guangdong, causing floods in certain streets of Zhongshan City, where vehicles were submerged and water reached waist-deep levels. Classes were suspended in some towns of Zhongshan. Zhuhai City reminded residents to avoid going out unless necessary. Additionally, Hong Kong and Macau also announced class suspensions.
In Guangdong’s Zhongshan City on the 4th, heavy rain poured down, with online videos showing flooded streets and vehicles stranded in the water, some completely submerged up to their roofs.
Local residents commented: “I am in Zhongshan. The street in front of our house is flooded, cars are floating, and shops are submerged. It’s very severe.”
“Zhongshan Announcement” stated that Baofu Town, Sanxiang Town, Shenwan Town, Tanzhou Town, and Wuguishan Street had issued red rainstorm warnings.
Schools and kindergartens in Baofu Town, Sanxiang Town, Shenwan Town, Tanzhou Town, and Wuguishan Street were closed. Students who had not left for school were not required to attend classes.
Local residents expressed concerns about the drainage system: “These days Zhongshan has indeed seen a lot of heavy rain, even more than previous years. It’s been raining continuously for days, making me feel unwell. I just recovered from a fever and now caught a cold again. Poor Guangdong, soaked in water for a month, one city after another.”
There were doubts about the drainage system: “Cars are submerged at the slightest rain, who is to blame, the heavens or the city’s drainage system designers? Three seconds of sympathy for the car owners.” “It seems that many provinces have issues with poor drainage systems.”
“For how many years, every time it rains heavily, we see cities turning into seas. Is it due to inadequate urban drainage systems or the lack thereof? Don’t tell me this is a natural disaster, not a man-made one.”
Earlier, heavy rain and flooding occurred in several places such as Shaoguan City and Zhaoqing City in Guangdong, resulting in casualties.
Apart from Zhongshan City, Zhuhai City, and Shenzhen in Guangdong also experienced heavy rain.
Zhuhai announced that Xiangzhou District and High-tech Zone had accumulated rainfall of 100 millimeters, with heavy rain expected to continue. Due to the continuous heavy rain, a red rainstorm warning signal was issued for Xiangzhou District and High-tech Zone by noon on the 4th, urging residents to stay indoors unless necessary.
The Shenzhen Meteorological Observatory issued a yellow rainstorm warning at 9 a.m. on the 4th, predicting 30-50 millimeters of rainfall within three hours in Yantian District, Pingshan District, Dapeng New District, Dapeng Bay, and Daya Bay, putting the entire city on alert for heavy rainfall.
In addition, Hong Kong and Macau were also hit by heavy rain. The Hong Kong Education Bureau announced that due to the red rainstorm warning signal in effect, all schools in Hong Kong were closed on the afternoon of the 4th. Schools that were in session were advised to continue until dismissal time.
The Education and Youth Development Bureau of the Macau SAR Government notified that due to the heavy rain, all primary, secondary, kindergarten, and special education schools were closed in the afternoon of the 4th.