Floods Hit Guizhou After Torrential Rain, Nearly 10,000 Residents Evacuated

Beijing — Torrential rain battered parts of southwest China’s Guizhou Province from Saturday to Sunday, triggering floods and forcing the evacuation of nearly 10,000 residents.

The hardest-hit areas included Qianxi City, Zunyi City and Changshun County.

In Qianxi, continuous heavy rain from Saturday through the early hours of Sunday affected all 30 townships in the city. Among them, five townships experienced exceptionally heavy rainfall, according to local authorities.

Local officials launched round-the-clock emergency rescue and relief operations. So far, emergency teams have evacuated 1,377 residents from 491 households and rescued more than 50 people who were trapped by the floods.

Meanwhile, in Changshun County, more than 3,000 residents from about 1,000 households in villages downstream of the Bancong Reservoir were safely relocated. The relocation followed a power outage that affected reservoir operations and led to overflow.

At 6 p.m. on Sunday, China’s Ministry of Water Resources and the China Meteorological Administration jointly issued the highest-level red alert for mountain torrents. The warning said parts of southeastern Guizhou faced a high risk of flash floods from 8 p.m. Sunday to 8 p.m. Monday.

In response, local authorities in the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture strengthened monitoring of 27 rivers and mobilized thousands of officials and flood-control personnel.

As of Sunday evening, 4,582 residents from 1,322 households in Qiandongnan had been evacuated in advance. Authorities said the evacuation of another 21,754 residents from 7,213 households was also underway.