Hong Kong CNN —Heavy rains hammered southern China on the weekend, flooding homes, streets and farmland and threatening to upend the lives of tens of millions of people as rescuers rushed to evacuate residents trapped by rising waters. Since April 16, sustained torrential rains have pounded the Pearl River Delta, China’s manufacturing heartland and one of the country’s most populated regions, with four weather stations in Guangdong registering record rainfall for April. Since last week, at least 44 rivers in the Pearl River basin have swelled above the warning line, threatening to burst their banks, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Aerial view of waterlogged fields after torrential rains on April 20, 2024 in Qingyuan, Guangdong Province of China. Authorities raised the flood control emergency response for the Pearl River Delta to level 2 on Sunday – the second highest in a four-tier system.

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Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Xinhua, China Meteorological Administration, Visual China, CCTV, Authorities Locations: Hong Kong, China, Guangdong, Jiangwan, Shaoguan, Pearl, Qingyuan, Guangdong Province of China, Guangning county, Zhaoqing, Qingyuan city, Guangzhou, Shenzhen