*

Guangdong and other southern provinces hit by

earlier-than-usual

floods

*

Floods in Guangdong caused by intense convective storms

*

Rains expected to affect Guangdong for rest of April

(Adds details, flight disruptions in paragraphs 4-6, company

comments in paragraphs 8-10, economic losses in paragraph 12,

graphic)

By Mei Mei Chu, David Kirton and Liz Lee

QINGYUAN, China, April 22 (Reuters) - Rescuers on boats

in China's flood-hit Guangdong province raced to evacuate

trapped residents, carrying some elderly people by piggyback

from their homes and deploying helicopters to save villagers

caught in landslides.

Situated in the densely populated Pearl River Delta, the

province once dubbed the "factory floor of the world" is prone

to summer floods, and over the years, has erected strong

defences against the disruptive effects of flooding.

But since Thursday, Guangdong has been battered by

unusually heavy, sustained and widespread rainfall, with

powerful storms ushering in an earlier-than-normal start to the

region's annual flooding season.

Weather events in China have become more intense and

unpredictable because of global warming, scientists say, with

record-breaking rainfall and drought assailing the world's

second-largest economy, often at the same time.

Precipitation records for April have already been broken

in many parts of Guangdong, with the cities of Shaoguan,

Qingyuan, Zhaoqing and Jiangmen to the west and north of the

provincial capital Guangzhou half-submerged in flood-waters.

On Sunday, domestic flights arriving in Guangzhou were

briefly cancelled and international ones delayed. Some foreign

carriers flying to other Chinese destinations even took big

detours to avoid the area.

No fatalities in Guangdong were reported, although 11

people in the province were still missing by Monday morning,

state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported without giving further

details.

Two companies in the province told Reuters there had been no

immediate impact to business or supply chains.

"Everything's running as usual and everyone got to

work," said a person who answered the phone at Camelot PCB, a

print circuit board company that supplies Tesla and

other electric vehicle makers.

Polyrocks Chemical, a plastics company that supplies

technology giants such as Apple ( AAPL ), Huawei and Samsung

, also said its operations were not affected.

But many rivers remained swollen on Monday at levels

above safety thresholds, with rainfall in recent days two to

three times more than what is normally seen at this time of the

year.

ECONOMIC LOSS

Across the province, 36 houses collapsed while 48 were

severely damaged, resulting in a direct economic loss of nearly

140.6 million yuan ($19.4 million), Xinhua reported.

In Qingyuan, the Bei River that cuts through the city

swelled over the weekend and submerged some houses and shops

alongside the Pearl River tributary.

Aerial footage showed flood waters overwhelming a nearby

town, leaving only roofs and treetops untouched.

Rescuers in Qingyuan tackled muddy waters, neck-high in some

areas, to extract residents, including an elderly lady trapped

in waist-deep water in an apartment building, videos on social

media showed.

Other social media videos showed water gushing through roads

and vehicles in disarray.

In Shaoguan, landslides trapped villagers who had to be

rescued by helicopter while other rescuers travelled on foot to

reach cut-off disaster sites.

The Chinese military also stepped in to help clear roads.

The rains eased early on Monday, but some schools in the

province were suspended.

In Guangxi, a region west of Guangdong, nearly 100,000

people have been affected by the heavy rain, with direct

economic losses totalling 284.5 million yuan.

The strong convective weather in southern China was caused

by a stronger-than-normal substropical high, a semi-permanent

high pressure system circulating north of the equator.

The stronger subtropical high led to warmer temperatures

that drew in more moisture-laden air from the South China Sea

and even the Bay of Bengal, Chinese meteorologists said,

resulting in the intense precipitation.

Thunderstorms are expected to return later in the week after

a brief respite, marking an unusually early wet spell that is

more typical in the months of May and June.

($1 = 7.2431 Chinese yuan renminbi)