The latest round of heavy rain has triggered flash floods and landslides in southern part of China, including provinces of Guizhou and Hunan.
China's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said on Tuesday that this round of rainfall has been the strongest since the beginning of this year's flood season. Authorities are maintaining a Level-IV emergency flood response for Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi and Guizhou.
Among these regions, southwest China's Guizhou Province has been hit the hardest by torrential rains across the country.
In Guiding, a county suffered the most serious damage caused by heavy rains in Guizhou's Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, four people were confirmed dead and five others remain missing after sudden, extremely heavy rainfall triggered severe flooding and landslides, local authorities said Tuesday.
In Changming, a town of Guiding, some residents were reported missing, while roads were blocked by rain-triggered mudslides and landslides, forcing rescue personnel to enter the area on foot while transportation authorities rushed to repair access routes.
From 17:00, people with local emergency and transportation departments were busy clearing mud and rubbles on roads with three excavators working on site at the same time.
"It's estimated to take another four hours. And it be completely cleared up between 03:00 and 04:00 in the morning," said Tang Yunli, director of Guiding Transportation Bureau.
Preliminary reports indicated that five villagers remained missing, with search and rescue operations underway.
In another part of Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, the city of Duyun has also been inundated by flash floods which led to surging river levels and flooded streets, as several residents were trapped on upper floors.
During rescue operations, firefighters found an elderly woman clinging tightly to a tree after attempting to walk to safety. After securing ropes and protective equipment, firefighters carefully approached her through deep flood water and later brought her to a safer place.
The National Development and Reform Commission announced Tuesday that a total of 30 million yuan (about 4.38 million U.S. dollars) was allocated to Guizhou following severe flooding and geological disasters that caused heavy casualties and property losses.
To the east of Duyun City, Hupingshan Town of Shimen County in central China's Hunan Province saw multiple roads damaged by landslides due to torrential rains.
Along the S522 highway connecting Hupingshan and Nanbei Town, emergency repairs were underway due to rain-caused secondary landslide. As the volume of debris was quite large, the two-way traffic was expected to resume later in the day.
Local authorities closely monitored the precipitation, with personnel stationed on duty for potential landslides.
Neighboring Hunan, Jiangxi Province also saw large precipitation these days. On Tuesday evening, Jiangxi's Shanggao County experienced short-term heavy rain, with some townships recording over 100 millimeters of precipitation.
Urban roads were flooded inside the county, with water reaching depths up to 30 centimeters, disrupting evening rush-hour traffic from 18:00. Local authorities immediately activated emergency drainage measures.
"Basically, the water in the waterlogged areas has been drained. We have currently dispatched over 20 people onto the streets. If they find any waterlogged areas during their patrols, they will deal with it immediately," said Lu Yuchen, a staff member with the Shanggao Urban Management Bureau.
By around 20:00, traffic in the county seat had returned to normal, as the rain stopped shortly after.
Heavy rain triggers floods, landslides in south China
