Southern China remained on high alert on Wednesday as the East Asian monsoon delivered some of the heaviest August rainfall on record, triggering landslides, wide-scale flooding and renewed public-health concerns. Guangzhou recorded its second-heaviest August downpours this century, forcing Baiyun Airport to cancel 363 flights and delay another 311. Sixteen rivers across Guangdong rose to dangerous levels and emergency officials warned that two to three typhoons could still arrive before month-end. Rescue operations stretched across the province. In Guangzhou’s Baiyun district, a rain-triggered landslide pulled down houses, leaving seven people missing; seven others were rescued, according to the city’s emergency management bureau. Firefighters also evacuated residents in Zhaoqing and lifted a stranded elderly woman from a tree in Huidong County as floodwaters rose. Earlier floods had swept at least five people to their deaths, and more than 1,300 responders are clearing debris and draining submerged roads. Health officials are bracing for a spike in mosquito-borne disease after stagnant water amplified a chikungunya outbreak centred on Foshan, which has already logged more than 7,000 infections. Beijing has released over 1 billion yuan ($139 million) in disaster relief for Guangdong and other hard-hit regions to repair infrastructure and support grain-growing areas. Forecasters say further thunderstorms and potential typhoons could compound damage in the coming weeks.