Persistent heavy rainfall continued to pound large parts of southern China this week, with some areas experiencing record-breaking downpours that triggered floods and landslides and forced mass evacuations across multiple provinces, as rescue teams worked to evacuate stranded residents and restore damaged infrastructure amid severe weather conditions.

The intense rainfall had, by Wednesday morning, left 15 people dead, with several others still missing in the provinces of Guizhou, Hubei and Hunan, authorities said.

Since the weekend, multiple parts of Hubei have been hit by record-breaking rainfall, causing severe urban flooding, inundating farmland and damaging infrastructure, while emergency rescue and disaster relief operations remain underway, according to Xinhua News Agency.

One of the hardest-hit areas is the Enshi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture, where torrential rain triggered landslides, flooded farmland and damaged infrastructure, Xinhua reported.

The rainfall left Baishuihe village in the prefecture's Xuan'en county cut off from the outside world after roads were destroyed and communication facilities severely damaged.

Ran Junjie, deputy head of Xuan'en county, told China Central Television that following intensive rescue efforts, all stranded residents were safely evacuated. Most evacuees have been relocated to local hotels, while a smaller number are staying with relatives or friends in other safe locations.

Multiple parts of Hunan have also suffered extremely heavy rainfall. In Shimen county, five people died and 11 others remain missing following the first round of heavy rain that began on Sunday morning, according to a notice issued by the county's emergency management and workplace safety authority on Wednesday morning.

The rainfall impacted 23 townships across the county, with 103,247 residents affected, the notice said.

The National Development and Reform Commission said on Wednesday that it has urgently allocated 50 million yuan ($7.31 million) from the central government's investment budget to support post-flood emergency recovery efforts in Hunan, according to Xinhua.

Two counties in Guizhou also reported fatalities caused by heavy rain. According to the flood control and drought relief headquarters of Majiang county in the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, persistent and widespread torrential rainfall between Monday night and early Wednesday pushed precipitation in some townships to historic highs.

The downpours triggered flooding, landslides and other disasters in some areas, leaving homes inundated, roads cut off, and communication and power facilities damaged.

As of Wednesday morning, preliminary investigations showed that 1,456 residents from 482 households had been urgently evacuated and relocated across the county, while three people had died in the disaster.

Emergency crews continued efforts to restore damaged roads and communication lines, while the basic needs of affected residents were being properly ensured, local authorities said.

In the province's Guiding county, heavy rain since Monday led to four deaths and left five others missing as of Tuesday afternoon, according to local authorities.

The National Meteorological Center renewed a blue alert for rainstorms on Wednesday morning, with heavy rainfall expected to continue across parts of the country.

Heavy to torrential rain was forecast to hit central and northern parts of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, its southern coastal areas, Guangdong province, southern Hunan, southern Jiangxi province and southern Hainan province between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon, the center said.

Some areas in northeastern Guangxi, the region's southern coastal areas, northern Guangdong and southwestern coastal Guangdong are expected to receive between 100 and 200 millimeters of rainfall, according to the center.

Contact the writers at huqing@chinadaily.com.cn