Heavy Floods in Central and Southern China Kill at Least 9
At least eight people were listed as missing in the worst-hit provinces of Henan, Hubei and Guizhou, where rivers overtopped dikes and poured into city streets, housing complexes and shopping malls, The Associated Press reported.
Although China experiences flooding each summer, the images were some of the most dramatic in years, many of them spread on social media to avoid official censors.
Rapid urban development appears to have worsened the problem, and the Communist Party authorities who control all media have been especially reticent in their news releases about the toll floods have taken. Information has been especially tight since 2001 flooding in the city of Zhengzhou killed 39 people below ground, including 14 who drowned inside a flooded subway train, although the true number of dead has been disputed.
That led to popular protests against poor design, corruption and the government's slow response.
Flash flood warnings were also issued for the northern region of Inner Mongolia, while the southernmost island province of Hainan was also told to prepare for heavy rains.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
At least 13 dead in Texas floods and more than 20 children missing from a girls summer camp
KERRVILLE, Texas: Months worth of heavy rain fell in a matter of hours on Texas Hill Country, leaving at least 13 people dead and many more unaccounted for Friday, including about 20 girls attending a summer camp, as search teams conducted boat and helicopter rescues in fast-moving floodwaters. Desperate pleas peppered social media as loved ones sought any information about people caught in the flood zone. At least 10 inches of rain poured down overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River. Authorities stressed that the situation was still developing and that the death toll could change, with rescue operations ongoing for an unspecified number missing. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said six to 10 bodies had been found so far. Around the same time, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha reported that 13 people had died in the flooding. 'Some are adults, some are children,' Patrick said during a news conference. 'Again, we don't know where those bodies came from.' Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in Kerr County, said authorities were still working to identify those who died. 'Most of them, we don't know who they are,' Kelly said during a news conference. Pleading for information after flash flood On the Kerr County sheriff's office Facebook page, people pleaded for help finding loved ones and posted pictures of them. Patrick said at least 400 people were on the ground helping in the response. Nine rescue teams, 14 helicopters and 12 drones were being used in the search, and Patrick said some people were being rescued from trees. About 23 of the roughly 750 girls attending Camp Mystic were among those who were unaccounted for, Patrick said. Search crews were doing 'whatever we can do to find everyone we can,' he said. At Hunt, where the Guadalupe forks, a river gauge recorded a 22 foot rise in about two hours, according to Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Austin/San Antonio office. Fogarty said the gauge failed after recording a level of 29 and a half feet . 'The water's moving so fast, you're not going to recognize how bad it is until it's on top of you,' Fogarty said. 'Pitch black wall of death' In Ingram, Erin Burgess woke to thunder and rain at 3:30 a.m. Just 20 minutes later, water was pouring into her home directly across from the river, she said. She described an agonizing hour clinging to a tree and waiting for the water to recede enough so they could walk up the hill to a neighbor's home. 'My son and I floated to a tree where we hung onto it, and my boyfriend and my dog floated away. He was lost for a while, but we found them,' she said. Of her 19-year-old son, Burgess said: 'Thankfully he's over 6 feet tall. That's the only thing that saved me, was hanging on to him.' Matthew Stone, 44, of Kerrville, said police came knocking on doors at 5:30 a.m. but that he had received no warning on his phone. 'We got no emergency alert. There was nothing,' Stone said. Then: 'a pitch black wall of death.' Stone said police used his paddle boat to help rescue a neighbor. Stone said he and the rescuers thought they heard someone yelling 'help!' from the water but couldn't see anyone. At a reunification center set up in Ingram, families cried and cheered as loved ones got off vehicles loaded with evacuees. Two soldiers carried an older woman who could not get down a ladder. Behind her, a woman in a soiled T-shirt and shorts clutched a small white dog. Later, a girl in a white 'Camp Mystic' T-shirt arrived. Standing in white socks in a puddle, she sobbed in her mother's arms. 'No one knew this kind of flood was coming' The forecast had called for rain, with a flood watch upgraded to a warning overnight for at least 30,000 people. But totals in some places exceeded expectations, Fogarty said. Patrick noted that the potential for heavy rain and flooding covered a large area. 'Everything was done to give them a heads up that you could have heavy rain, and we're not exactly sure where it's going to land,' Patrick said. 'Obviously as it got dark last night, we got into the wee morning of the hours, that's when the storm started to zero in.' Asked about how people were notified in Kerr County so that they could get to safety, Kelly said, 'We do not have a warning system.' When reporters pushed on why more precautions weren't taken, he responded: 'Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming.' 'We have floods all the time,' he added. 'This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States.' Popular tourism area prone to flooding It's in an area of Texas known as 'flash flood alley' because of the hills' thin layer of soil, said Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, which was collecting donations to help nonprofits responding to the disaster. 'When it rains, water doesn't soak into the soil,' Dickson said. 'It rushes down the hill.' River tourism industry is a key part of the Hill Country economy, said Dickson. Well-known, century-old summer camps bring in kids from all over the country, he said. Between Hunt and Ingram are many river homes and cabins for rent. 'It's generally a very tranquil river with really beautiful clear blue water that people have been attracted to for generations,' Dickson said. Deaths in New Jersey blamed on thunderstorms The flooding in Texas occurred as severe weather moved through central New Jersey, where thunderstorms were blamed for at least three deaths. Among them were two men in Plainfield who died after a tree fell onto their vehicle, according to a city Facebook post. The city canceled its July Fourth parade, concert and fireworks show.
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Al Arabiya
Eastern China swelters under early heatwave, threatening crops and industry
Sweltering heat enveloped China's eastern seaboard on Friday, as a high-pressure system settled over the country's most populous region, baking key agricultural and manufacturing hubs along the Yangtze River and raising fears over potential economic losses. Large swathes of China's economic heartland are set to roast in temperatures of 37 to 39 degrees Celsius (99 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit) over the coming week. Forecasters are warning that parts of Anhui and Zhejiang provinces, as well as the more central provinces of Hubei and Henan, could top 40 C. The subtropical high causing the heat has arrived unusually early this year. China's 'Sanfu Season' – an agricultural marker thought to have been in use for over two millennia – typically begins in mid-July and lasts through late August, sending people sheltering from intense summer heat. Extreme heat, which meteorologists link to climate change, has emerged as a major challenge for Chinese policymakers. As well as scorching croplands and eroding farm incomes, higher temperatures can impact manufacturing hubs, disrupt operations in key port cities, and strain already overburdened healthcare systems. Authorities across eastern and central China issued warnings about the dangers, urging workers to take precautions as the combination of extreme heat and humidity during commutes created a heightened risk of heat stroke. In 2022, China was hit by the worst heatwaves since 1961, with many parts of the country enduring a 79-day hot spell from mid-June to late August. No official death tally was disclosed, and China does not give a tally of heat-related deaths, although domestic media occasionally report fatalities citing local authorities. In a 2023 report published in the medical journal The Lancet, heatwave-related mortality in the world's second-largest economy was estimated at 50,900 deaths in 2022, doubling from 2021. While the east bakes, the national meteorological center forecast more torrential rain across parts of northwestern and southwestern China on Friday and Saturday, with videos circulating on Chinese social media showing residents canoeing through flooded streets in the city of Chengdu.
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Al Arabiya
China's north and west on alert after sweeping rains trigger deadly floods
China's north and west braced for more flash floods and landslides on Thursday as annual 'Plum Rains' left a trail of destruction and prompted the mobilization of thousands of rescue workers to pull people from floodwaters. Red alerts were issued tracing the rains as they moved from the southwestern province of Sichuan through the northwestern province of Gansu, and up to the northeastern province of Liaoning. While some Beijing-bound trains were suspended and one of the city's airports experienced flight delays and cancellations late on Wednesday and into the early hours. Extreme rainfall and severe flooding, which meteorologists link to climate change, increasingly pose major challenges for policymakers as they threaten to overwhelm ageing flood defenses, displace millions and wreak havoc on China's $2.8 trillion agricultural sector. Economic losses from natural disasters exceeded $10 billion last July, when the 'Plum Rains' - named for their timing coinciding with plums ripening along China's Yangtze River during the East Asia monsoon - typically reach their peak. State media said over 1,000 rescue workers were dispatched to the town of Taiping in central China's Henan province on Wednesday, after torrential rains caused a nearby river to burst its banks, killing five people in a flash flood and leaving three others missing. Two more people died in a landslide at a construction side in Gansu province caused by heavy rains over Wednesday and Thursday, a separate state media report said. During a two-day visit to the northern province of Hebei, which borders Henan, Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing urged local officials to step up efforts ahead of anticipated heavy rain to minimize casualties by preemptively evacuating people, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday. While China has a nationwide severe weather monitoring and forecasting system, scientists say very localized predictions remain a challenge, testing the ability of particularly rural communities with fewer forecasting resources to evacuate local populations quickly ahead of any extreme weather. Further south, in China's Guangxi region, several buildings slid down hillsides over the last two days after their foundations gave way in waterlogged soil, local media reported. Footage verified by Reuters shows a five-storey building under construction in the town of Xinzhou collapsing into a nearby river within seconds, as the ground beneath it suddenly gave way. Between June 30 and July 1, the Lengshui River which flows through Xinzhou experienced its worst flooding in records going back to 2005, said a separate local media report, citing the Ministry of Water Resources. The report also instructed readers on how to recognize early signs of flash flooding. Meanwhile, in Pingliu Village, some 80 km (50 miles) west of Xinzhou, 21 people from seven households were evacuated on Tuesday after a landslide collapsed two houses and damaged four others, other local media reported. In contrast, the national meteorological center forecast scorching heat along the country's eastern seaboard.
