Floods Kill at Least 25 in Central, Southern China

At least 25 people have died after heavy rains caused widespread flooding and landslides across southern and central China, according to multiple reports. The China Meteorological Administration issued elevated alerts for heavy rain and severe stormy weather, warning of high risks of landslides, flash floods, and urban flooding in several provinces.

The floodwaters have caused significant disruptions. In Jingzhou, a city in central Hubei, residents were knee-deep in water with cars nearly completely submerged on roads surrounded by residential and commercial buildings. Authorities launched emergency responses to relocate residents and allocate funds for disaster relief. Schools, businesses, and transport services have been suspended.

Rescue workers used boats or swam through floodwaters to evacuate people in waterlogged areas across central and southwest China. In Dachong, a town in southern Guangdong, scooters were submerged with only parts of the handlebars visible, while rescue staff in an inflatable boat rescued a man who had climbed a tree to escape the flooding.

In Hubei, emergency and military personnel helped residents escape danger, many of them senior citizens. Elderly residents were rescued from their homes by boats, with some staff swimming inside buildings to reach trapped residents. One scene showed rescuers struggling to reach a man trapped in chest-high water behind a door, taking an hour to get him to safety.

The unusually large area of intense rainfall—spanning more than 1,000 km (621 miles)—was attributed to the convergence of abundant moisture from the Bay of Bengal, the South China Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. Meteorologists noted that the slow-moving nature of the weather system led to high cumulative rainfall totals.

In Guangxi, six people died after a pickup truck carrying 15 passengers fell into a flooded river amid heavy rain. In Hubei, three people were killed by flash floods in a low-lying village, while another death was recorded in southern Hunan province. China's National Meteorological Centre expects severe weather to move east and south over the next two days, with the heaviest rainfall forecast along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River from Wednesday.