Nine died and two are still missing after a heavy rain in Shenzhen last night.

Local authorities announced this morning 16 workers in total were swept away by floodwaters caused by an abrupt rainfall, when they were cleaning lakes or working on construction sites.

Last night, a hailstorm hit the city. Both hail and storm warnings were issued at 8 pm and canceled three hours later, the fifth hail warning in the city's history.

Local firemen have been doing rescue work for over 10 hours, and is still in progress.

Storms are expected to strike the city again today but not heavily as yesterday. Other cities in Guangdong including Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Jiangmen, reported storms today as well.