ZHENGZHOU, CHINA — More than 10,000 people in central China’s Henan province have been evacuated as a result of record rainfall, according to the BBC.
Within the region, at least 12 people have died in the city of Zhengzhou, authorities confirmed.
As stations and roads have become submerged, and rivers have burst their banks, Al Jazeera is reporting severe power outages and says that thousands of firefighters and troops have been deployed to the region to help with search and rescue.
Floods are common during China’s rainy season, annually causing chaos and washing away roads, crops and houses, according to Agence France Presse.
However, on this occasion weather authorities have issued the highest warning level for central Henan province.
The city of Zhengzhou has seen a year’s worth of rainfall in just three days and the BBC reports that although many factors contribute to flooding, a warming atmosphere caused by climate change increases the chances of such extreme rainfall.
As forecasters said on Wednesday that the rain would continue for at least another 24 hours, Henan province authorities said downpours had caused damage worth around $11 million so far, according to Agence France Presse, with thousands of acres of crops ruined on top of structural damage.
That damage could be about to increase substantially as authorities have warned that 16 reservoirs have seen water rise to dangerous levels, and the Chinese army has warned that the Yihetan dam in the city of Luoyang could collapse at any time.
