China Issues Highest Rainstorm Alert as Deadly Floods Sweep North

Torrential storms that have caused widespread flooding and killed at least 71 people in southeast China are moving inland, prompting the national weather service to issue its most severe rainstorm alert. The storms have led to flash floods and mudslides, with more expected in the coming days.

The region, including the economic powerhouse of Guangdong province, home to 127 million people, experiences annual flooding from April to September. However, the coast has faced more intense rainstorms and severe flooding in recent years due to the climate crisis, which scientists warn will increase the frequency and deadliness of extreme weather.

After displacing tens of thousands in Guangdong, the storms have moved north into southern central China, causing waterlogged highways and a swamped metro system in Hunan province.

On Monday, China’s Meteorological Administration issued its highest red rainstorm signal for the first time this year, warning of high risks of torrential rain in several provinces. The high-risk area stretches from Chongqing province in the west to Zhejiang in the east, covering Hubei, Hunan, and Anhui provinces.

China’s State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters raised its flood response to level 3 in the provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, and Hunan on Monday.

In Changsha, one of the hardest-hit areas in Hunan province, cars floated down city streets, and people waded through flooded subway tunnels. Local rivers rose a record 4.59 meters (15 feet), and the state-run weather service measured 65.1 millimeters (2.5 inches) of rainfall in a single hour – a new record for the city in June.

No deaths were immediately reported in Changsha, but fatalities have been reported across multiple provinces and cities. Mountain torrents killed five people on June 21 in Yuanlin county, Hunan, bringing the death toll in that province to at least 13. More than 300 villagers in Taoyuan county, Hunan, were also unreachable on Tuesday.

In Anhui province, northeast of Hunan, at least 511,000 people in 29 cities and counties have been affected by relentless rainfall and flooding, and 64,000 have been forced to relocate as of Monday morning.

Last week, Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to safeguard lives and property as China grapples with heavy rains in the south and severe drought and record temperatures in the north. Other parts of China are also facing earlier and longer extreme heat periods and droughts each year, causing widespread power shortages and disruptions to food and industrial supply chains.