Six dead, thousands displaced as floods hit southwestern China | Climate News

‘Exceptionally large floods’ swept through Guizhou’s Rongjiang county, forcing some 80,000 people to flee their homes.

At least six people have died and more than 80,000 people were evacuated from their homes after floods inundated China’s Guizhou province, state media reported, as a tropical depression made landfall in the island province.

State broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday that “exceptionally large floods” had swept through Guizhou’s Rongjiang county since Tuesday.

Deluges in Guizhou – classified as a southwestern province by the Chinese government – have prompted authorities to activate the highest-level emergency flood response, evacuating about 80,900 people.

“As of 11am on Thursday… six people have unfortunately lost their lives,” the report said, citing the local flood control headquarters.

“Many low-lying areas in the county were flooded, and the infrastructure of some towns was seriously damaged, resulting in traffic obstruction, communications blackouts, and some people being trapped,” the broadcaster said.

“The water level in the county has now retreated below the warning level,” it added, saying “post-disaster recovery and reconstruction and investigation of trapped people are under way.”

State news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday that a football field in Rongjiang was “submerged under three metres (10ft) of water”, and a resident said they were rescued from the third floor of their home.

Images published by Xinhua also showed rescue operations carried out by emergency services. Tents have been set up to serve as temporary shelters for those who were displaced.

In other parts of Guizhou, where the floods have subsided, people were also seen clearing up the debris and thick layers of mud that covered the lower sections of some business establishments and other buildings.

Meanwhile, a tropical depression made landfall in Hainan early on Thursday, according to the country’s National Meteorological Centre.

The tropical depression is expected to move from the city of Wenchang across the island’s northeast tip, before heading back into the South China Sea and making a second landfall in China’s southern Guangdong province and gradually weakening.

The storm will again test the flood defences of the densely populated Guangdong province, as well as Guangxi and Hunan further inland.

China is enduring a summer of extreme weather.

This week, authorities issued the second-highest heat warning for the capital, Beijing, on one of its hottest days of the year so far.

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated last week in Hunan province – neighbouring Guizhou – due to heavy rain brought about by Typhoon Wutip.