Continuous heavy rain has pushed Rongjiang county in Guizhou to flood levels not seen in 30 years, submerging much of the city.

The county's flood control and drought relief headquarters reported on Tuesday that persistent rainfall, combined with rising water upstream, had driven several rivers rapidly past the "once-in-30-years" flood threshold.

At noon on Tuesday, the Rongjiang government raised the flood alert to its highest level and predicted that water levels would peak at 255 meters around 1:00 pm, 3.5 meters above the guaranteed safety mark.