Over 280,000 affected by rainstorms in Guangxi

NANNING -- Torrential rain in south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has affected the lives of over 280,000 people since Saturday, the local emergency management department said Tuesday.

Floods and waterlogging have hit 40 counties and districts under the cities of Nanning, Liuzhou, Guilin, Guigang, Baise, Hechi, Laibin and Chongzuo.

A total of 286,329 residents were affected, with one missing and 9,302 residents relocated as of 5 pm Tuesday.

The rain also damaged over 15,000 hectares of crops. A total of 467 family houses collapsed and another 749 were damaged to varying degrees.

The regional observatory issued a blue alert for heavy rain at 5 pm on Tuesday, forecasting rainstorms in cities including Wuzhou, Yulin, Qinzhou, Fangchenggang, Beihai, Chongzuo and Baise in the following 24 hours.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.