A southern Chinese region is facing a major humanitarian crisis after record-breaking rainfall from the remnants of Tropical Storm Maysak triggered widespread destruction and flooding. According to the regional propaganda office, the severe weather has resulted in six confirmed deaths, while 11 people remain missing as of Tuesday evening. The emergency situation has forced the evacuation of 130,000 residents.
Many residents are currently trapped, awaiting rescue as water levels continue to pose a threat. Lu Xiaofei, a worker based in Shenzhen, described a harrowing situation for her family in Lu village, located in the Qintang district. Her brother, his wife, their 9-month-old baby, and the child’s grandparents are stranded on the second floor of their home. According to Lu, the water inside the house has risen above a person’s height, and the family has been without electricity since yesterday morning, with drinkable water supplies rapidly depleting. She noted that local authorities have not yet reached their location, a sentiment echoed by many others using social media to share videos of the inundated areas and plead for assistance.
The impact of the storm has extended beyond residential flooding. In Hengzhou city, local media outlet Litchi News reported that snakes from breeding facilities were washed away by the floodwaters. Reports indicate that some of these snakes have entered homes, with villagers claiming that over a dozen people have suffered bites.
The national meteorological center reported that central-eastern and southern parts of the Guangxi region have been battered by heavy rain since last Saturday. Cumulative rainfall reached between 100 mm and 400 mm (about 4 inches to 16 inches) in most areas, with some hard-hit locations recording totals exceeding 900 mm (35 inches). Weather officials expect the heavy rain to persist throughout Wednesday, and for safety reasons, some train services in the region have been suspended.
As authorities in Guangxi grapple with these floods, the region is already bracing for further weather threats, with Super Typhoon Bavi expected to impact parts of southeastern China over the weekend. Meanwhile, severe weather has caused casualties elsewhere in Asia, including monsoon-related landslides in southeastern Bangladesh that killed several Rohingya refugees, including five children, and heavy rains in India that have resulted in over a dozen deaths in recent days.
“The water in the house is over one person’s height. They have to all move to the second floor. The power has been out since yesterday morning, and now they don’t have running water, either,” Lu told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
AP writer Fu Ting in Washington contributed to this story.
