At least 21 people have been killed and thousands evacuated after torrential rain triggered flooding, landslides and transport disruption across southern and central China, with authorities warning that more heavy rainfall is expected along the Yangtze River.
Heavy rain continued across large parts of China on Tuesday and Wednesday, affecting provinces including Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Anhui and Guangdong.
Chinese state media said at least 21 people had died in separate incidents linked to flooding and severe weather, while several others remained missing.
In Hunan province, five people were killed and 11 reported missing in Shimen county after intense rainfall battered the region, state broadcaster CCTV reported. More than 19,000 residents had been relocated by Tuesday evening, according to Xinhua news agency.
Xinhua said Shimen recorded 339 millimetres of rainfall within 24 hours ending early Monday, while one town received 240 millimetres within just a few hours, breaking historical records.
In neighbouring Hubei province, flooding turned streets into rivers, forcing rescuers to use inflatable boats to reach stranded residents. Three people were killed and four others were missing after flash floods struck low-lying areas in Xuan'en county in Enshi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture.
Guizhou province reported four deaths and five people missing after downpours triggered floods and landslides in Guiding county. More than 3,700 residents were relocated in one affected area, according to state media.
Separately, 10 people were killed after a pickup truck carrying farm workers plunged into a flooded river in Guangxi over the weekend.
Authorities suspended schools, businesses and transport services in several affected areas, while emergency teams carried out evacuations, drainage operations and infrastructure repairs.
In Hubei, rescue teams said they drained nearly 20 million litres of floodwater and rescued or evacuated more than 300 residents between Sunday and Monday.
Images shared on Chinese social media showed residents wading through knee-deep water in the city of Jingzhou, where some vehicles were almost completely submerged.
Communications and power supplies were disrupted in parts of the flood-hit regions, while roads and bridges suffered extensive damage.
China's government said it had allocated 150 million yuan ($22 million) in disaster relief funding and launched emergency responses in multiple provinces.
China's National Meteorological Centre warned that severe weather would gradually move east and south over the coming days, with the heaviest rainfall expected along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River from Wednesday.
Meteorologists said the unusually broad band of rainfall, stretching more than 1,000 kilometres, was caused by moisture converging from the Bay of Bengal, the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
On the southern island province of Hainan, authorities issued a geological disaster warning after a mountainside collapsed onto a highway in Lingshui, forcing road closures.
China experiences deadly flooding during its annual summer rainy season, with heavy rains last year killing dozens of people in Beijing.
Strong winds that fuelled a deadly grass fire are what killed four Canadian soldiers and sent 39 people to hospital at a military traini...
U.S. President Donald Trump has criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for continuing to target Russia's energy infrastructure, whi...
French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation on Sunday, condemning the violence, looting and vandalism that erupted during cost-of-living ...
An unknown projectile struck a tanker 68 nautical miles northeast of Saudi Arabia on Friday according to a report released by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) on Saturday.
What started out as planned protests against the cost of living, declining public services and education funding in France, quickly devolved into violent riots across the country on Saturday.
The day after waiving sanctions and tariffs related to Russian exports, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he has yet to announce a final decision on the matter as Secretary of State Marco Rubio said officials want more time to evaluate the situation.
A Saudi AH-6i helicopter crashed in the Najran region of Saudi Arabia due to a technical malfunction, killing its two crew members, the Saudi-led coalition's spokesman Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki said in a statement on Sunday.
The AnewZ documentary “Counterpoint: Two Centuries of German-Azerbaijani Shared History” investigates the story of German settlers who arrived on Azerbaijani lands around two centuries ago and established communities that left a lasting mark on the country’s cultural heritage.
U.S. President Donald Trump has criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for continuing to target Russia's energy infrastructure, while Russian strikes on Kyiv overnight killed at least one person and damaged a metro station.
Strong winds that fuelled a deadly grass fire are what killed four Canadian soldiers and sent 39 people to hospital at a military training area in Alberta, Canada, according to authorities. 19 people remain in critical condition. The winds caused the flames to spread rapidly.
French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation on Sunday, condemning the violence, looting and vandalism that erupted during cost-of-living protests on Saturday. He ordered a review of police preparedness and called for urgent talks to address the growing social unrest.
U.S. President Donald Trump has endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the country’s parliamentary election on 27 October, praising him as a strong leader and a partner in the war with Iran.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Sunday for talks with Central Asian officials, as the Trump administration seeks to strengthen ties with a resource-rich region bordering China, Russia and Iran.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment