Recovery operations intensify in Guigang City following major flooding

Recovery operations are ramping up in Guigang City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, as floodwaters from the Yujiang River continue to recede.

Authorities are now prioritizing drainage, infrastructure restoration, and public health measures after the city experienced its worst flooding in nearly 25 years.

On Tuesday, the river peaked at 46.88 meters, exceeding the warning level by 5.68 meters. This resulted in widespread waterlogging, severely affecting low-lying roads across the city's main districts.

Municipal agencies are implementing a 24-hour rotation of pumping and sludge-clearing crews in the impacted urban areas. Traffic conditions are gradually returning to normal.

According to the city's housing and urban-rural development bureau, 63 underground parking garages in Guigang's central region were flooded at the peak of the crisis. As of Friday afternoon, drainage crews were still actively pumping out water from 12 of those garages, while power restoration and telecommunications repairs were ongoing at these sites.

Local officials are coordinating a multi-faceted recovery strategy that includes water extraction, debris removal, structural inspections of damaged buildings and roads, and preemptive disinfection campaigns to mitigate the risk of waterborne illnesses.

China's Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management jointly allocated an additional 80 million yuan (about 11.8 million U.S. dollars) from the central natural disaster relief fund to support emergency response and recovery efforts in Guangxi. The allocation comes on top of the 110 million yuan that was disbursed on July 6.

The funds will be used primarily to support the relocation and resettlement of affected residents, provide temporary living assistance during the recovery period, and repair or rebuild homes damaged or destroyed by the flooding.

The country has also upgraded its national emergency disaster relief response for the region from Level IV to Level III, as continuous heavy rainfall has further worsened flooding and related disasters.

The floods have left 39 people dead and nine reportedly missing in Guangxi, local authorities said on Thursday.

The death toll from the June 24 earthquakes in Venezuela has risen to 4,118 as crews continue to clear rubble in the hardest-hit areas, authorities said Friday.

Another 16,740 were injured in the disaster, National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said in a social media update.

A total of 86,794 households have received relief assistance so far, Rodriguez said.

Since the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck within seconds of each other on June 24, Venezuela has recorded 1,171 aftershocks, according to the latest update.