Tropical depression hits southern China two weeks after Typhoon Wutip
The tropical depression is expected to move from the city of Wenchang across the island's northeast tip, before heading back out into the South China Sea and making a second landfall in China's southern Guangdong province, state broadcaster CCTV said, gradually weakening along the way.
Extreme storms and severe flooding, which meteorologists link to climate change, increasingly pose major challenges for Chinese officials, as they threaten to overwhelm ageing flood defences, displace millions of people and cause billions of dollars in economic losses.
The storm will again test the flood defences of the densely populated Guangdong province, as well as Guangxi and Hunan further inland.
Five people died and hundreds of thousands of people had to be evacuated when Wutip roared through the region from June 13 to 15, dumping record rains and damaging roads and cropland.
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
How beavers could become key to preventing droughts
Conservationists are championing river restoration and the reintroduction of beavers as crucial strategies to build landscape resilience against the escalating risk of drought. With two northern regions already in drought thanks to the UK 's driest spring in 132 years, the South West of England offers a compelling case study. Despite receiving only half its average spring rainfall, the National Trust 's Holnicote estate on Exmoor, Somerset, has maintained lush vegetation and thriving wetlands thanks to extensive river restoration work. The estate's 'Riverlands' project, launched in 2020, released beavers into two enclosures and worked to restore the River Aller to a 'stage zero' state – its natural, multi-channelled form with pools and shallow riffles, as it would have been before human interference. This approach, pioneered in Oregon, US, involved diggers moving over 4,000 tonnes of earth and laying hundreds of logs within the floodplain, marking the UK's first attempt at scale on a main river. Thousands of wetland trees were also planted and wildflower seeds sown to attract pollinators, demonstrating how natural solutions can help landscapes adapt to the increasing extremes of climate change. The project to give the river space and connect to its floodplain, completed just two years ago, has created a new natural landscape from once neat agricultural fields, with channels, pools, wetlands and marshes. The wetlands are rich in plants, the young trees are starting to grow and meadows in the floodplain are full of wildflowers. The landscape – along with the nearby beaver wet woodland – slows down the flow of water and holds it in the landscape to reduce flooding and counteract drought, as well as reducing pollution and loss of sediment, the Trust said. The wetlands that have been created are habitat for water voles, as well as an array of birds, insects and fish including eels. Ben Eardley, senior project manager for the National Trust in Somerset, said curbing flooding was a big part of the reason for the project, with communities downstream at Allerford and Bossington suffering from floods in the past. 'But then increasingly, you can see the impacts of hotter dry weather which I think are equally important in addressing,' he said. While some restoration schemes only improve the river channel itself, the work at Holnicote makes the wider landscape more resilient, he suggested. Even after the dry spring, the beaver enclosures, where the animals have created pools, dams and woodland clearings, were still 'brim full' of water, while the restored river catchment stays wet year-round, Mr Eardley said. The denser vegetation acts like a blanket on the soil, holding moisture in and keeping the soil temperature more consistent, he added. 'It's a combination of different things that lead to more resilience. 'And it's not saying that you have to have all of those things everywhere, but if you've got more diverse landscape with a greater mosaic of different habitats. then just by default, you'll have greater resilience,' he said. Farmers and landowners are among those who visit the 'exemplar' river restoration project, which comes amid intense debate over competing uses of land in the UK – for food security, energy production, climate action and to help restore nature and natural processes that can benefit people. Mr Eardley argues that it does not have to be a binary choice between beavers or river restoration and agriculture, but land could be managed to provide both, with benefits for landscapes which are suffering more extreme weather throughout the year as the climate changes. 'You might need to sacrifice some small areas for beaver habitat or whatever. 'But then in that wider landscape you're going to have better, lusher grazing for longer, during those summer months, whereas before, everything would have burnt off,' he said. 'Because you've got higher groundwater levels, your soil and your vegetation are healthier.' Stewart Clarke, senior national freshwater consultant at the National Trust said: 'Water is at the forefront of climate change impacts including flooding and drought, and after a very dry first six months of the year and with many UK regions either in or on the cusp of being in drought conditions, looking after the lifeblood of our landscapes is absolutely vital.' He said that giving rivers more space could create 'nature-rich corridors' through towns and countryside, store water during floods and droughts and give rivers space to adapt to changing flows. The riverlands project is one of a number of schemes the trust had undertaken to 'future proof' rivers, he said, adding: 'The new stage 0 wetland, and the beaver wetlands which it resembles, have created important stores of water and carbon to help in the fight against climate change. 'Over the coming years we aim to create and restore hundreds of such wetlands both for these benefits to people and for the rich wildlife they can support.' And while the Holnicote beavers are currently in enclosures – though prone to escaping – following the Government's recent decision to allow licensed beaver releases into the wild in England, the National Trust is applying to be able to have wild beavers on the estate. Then the beavers could link up with the stage 0 river landscape, and ultimately take over its management in their role as ecosystem engineers.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘Catastrophic' flood in Texas kills at least six, including children, with more missing from summer camp
At least six people are dead in south-central Texas after heavy rains produced a 'catastrophic flooding event', as authorities said that 23 people were also missing from a girls' camp that was hit by the flash flooding. The region was beset by death and disaster on Friday after months' worth of heavy rain fell in a matter of hours, leaving search teams to conduct boat and helicopter rescues in the fast-moving water that overtook riverfront communities and children's summer camps. At a news conference on Friday afternoon, the Texas lieutenant governor Dan Patrick said that 23 children from Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for girls, were unaccounted for of 750 who were staying there at the time. He asked people to stay away from the area, saying the Texas division of emergency management had 14 helicopters and hundreds of emergency workers involved in search-and-rescue operations. Patrick said emergency crews had recovered between six and 10 bodies. 'Some are adults, some are children. At this point, we don't know where they all came from,' he said. He said Donald Trump had been informed of the situation and responded: 'Whatever we need, we can have.' The region was inundated when five to 10in of rain fell overnight as part of an intense, slow-moving storm across Kerr and Kendall counties. The runoff from parched land caused the Guadalupe River to crest at one of its highest-ever peaks, with water levels in Kerrville rising more than 22ft in just a few hours overnight. Teams have conducted dozens of rescues as the emergency response continued and an unknown number of people remained unaccounted for. The state senator Pete Flores said: 'We are in search-and-rescue mode, and we know that these first 24 hours are very important.' The official death toll remains unclear, and could likely rise. At a separate news conference conducted at the same time as Patrick's update, the Kerr county sheriff Larry Leitha reported that there were as many as 13 deaths. More rain is expected in the state, including around Waco, and flooding is anticipated downriver from Kerr county. Dalton Rice, city manager for Kerrville, the county seat, told reporters the extreme flooding struck with little to no advance warning, precluding authorities from issuing any evacuation orders. 'This happened very quickly, over a very short period of time, that could not be predicted, even with the radar,' Rice said. 'This happened within less than a two-hour span.' Of particular concern are more than a dozen summer camps dotted in the rural region that would now be filled with kids. The Texas Hill Country, a scenic and rocky gateway to booming vineyards and vacation rentals, begins west of the state capital and is a popular outdoor summer getaway. Parts of the region are prone to flash flooding. Dozens of people posted on Facebook asking for any information about their children, nieces and nephews attending one of the many camps in the area, or family members who had gone camping during the holiday weekend. The Ingram fire department posted a photo of a statement from Camp Mystic, saying the camp experienced 'catastrophic level floods'. Parents with a daughter not accounted for had been directly contacted, the camp said. 'We are working with search and rescue currently,' the camp said in its communication. 'The highway has washed away so we are struggling to get more help. Please continue to pray and send any help if you have contacts to do so.' Authorities have urged people to exercise caution and avoid driving on water-covered roads as the extreme conditions continue. 'Conditions are life-threatening! DO NOT go out onto the roads,' the National Weather Service in San Angelo urged on Friday morning. 'Expect roads washed out and rapid rises on rivers and creeks.' The sheriff's office added that 'the entire county is an extremely active scene. Residents are encouraged to shelter in place and not attempt travel. Those near creeks, streams, and the Guadalupe River should immediately move to higher ground.' The rains come after a long drought in the region that has left the soil bone-dry, increasing the chances of runoff leading to flash flooding. Erin Burgess, a resident of the Bumble Bee Hills neighborhood west of Ingram, recounted her harrowing survival ordeal to the Associated Press. She said she woke up to thunder at 3.30am Friday morning, and 'it was raining pretty heavy, but no big deal'. Just 20 minutes later, Burgess said, water was coming in through the walls and rushing through the front and back doors. She described an agonizing hour clinging to a tree and waiting for the water to recede enough that she was able to walk up the hill to a neighbor's. '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 6ft tall. That's the only thing that saved me, was hanging on to him.' The rains in central Texas are expected to continue until later Friday. Strong storms are also being blamed for at least three deaths in central New Jersey, including two men in Plainfield who died after a tree fell on to a vehicle they were traveling in during the height of the storm, according to a city Facebook post. The men were aged 79 and 25, officials said. They were not immediately publicly identified. Fourth of July celebrations were cancelled, the city said, 'out of good conscience'. The Associated Press contributed reporting
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
Six reported dead, more missing including girls from a summer camp after catastrophic Texas flooding
At least six people have been reported dead and many more are missing, including girls from a Christian summer camp, after catastrophic river flooding hit central Texas late Thursday. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly told The Austin American-Statesman that six people had died. 'We can confirm but we are afraid there may be more,' he said. 'They are still looking.' It was not immediately clear who had been included in that tally, and Kelly told reporters that one person had been found 'completely naked' and without identification. The Kerr County Sheriff's Office confirmed fatalities but declined to release further information until next of kin had been notified. Those reported missing included girls from Camp Mystic, according to The Statesman's Tony Plohetski. Plohetski reported on social media that the camp said it had notified parents whose children were not accounted for. An image sent to KSAT showed girls in the Kerr County camp wading through water overnight. Officers had responded to dozens of calls, and one man told KABB his brother, sister-in-law, and their two children were lost, along with their house. Nearby, in Ingram, an RV park had been swept away. Kerr County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Clint Morris told the station that it is 'an extremely active scene, countywide.' 'This may be a once-in-a-lifetime flood' for the county, he said, noting that authorities have responded to multiple calls for high-water rescues. The state has called in the National Guard to assist in the efforts. Kelly later told reporters that the county does 'not have a warning system.' The floods came while people were asleep. As many as 10 inches of rain fell in the area, causing the flash flooding of the Guadalupe River. The river rose to nearly 35 feet on Friday, reaching its second-highest height on record. An additional one to three inches of rain are expected to fall before they subside on Friday night. The flooding comes as residents in the Northeast were spending their Fourth of July holiday cleaning up from strong thunderstorms that swept through the region Thursday night, bringing heavy rain, wind and hail. The storms are being blamed for at least three deaths in central New Jersey, including two men in Plainfield who died after a tree fell onto a vehicle they were traveling in during the height of the storm, according to a city Facebook post. The men were ages 79 and 25, officials said. They were not immediately publicly identified. 'Our hearts are heavy today,' Mayor Adrian O. Mapp said in a statement. 'This tragedy is a sobering reminder of the power of nature and the fragility of life.' The city canceled its planned July Fourth parade, concert and fireworks show. Mapp said the 'devastating' storms had left 'deep scars and widespread damage' in the community of more than 54,000 people and it was a time to 'regroup and focus all of our energy on recovery.' Continuing power outages and downed trees were reported Friday throughout southern New England, where some communities received large amounts of hail. There were reports of cars skidding off the road in northeastern Connecticut.
