Devastating flooding across several Chinese provinces has resulted in at least 12 fatalities and prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents, according to state media reports.
China’s state television network CCTV announced Wednesday that five people died and 11 remain unaccounted for in Shimen County within Hunan province in central China following severe rainfall in the area. Emergency rescue teams are actively searching for survivors. More than 19,000 residents had been moved to safety by Tuesday evening, according to the Chinese official news agency Xinhua.
The county experienced an extraordinary 339 millimeters (approximately 13 inches) of precipitation in a single 24-hour span that concluded Monday morning at 7 a.m., Xinhua reported. One community within the county saw 240 millimeters (roughly 9 inches) fall in mere hours, establishing new rainfall records.
Adjacent Hubei province witnessed roadways transformed into waterways, requiring emergency teams to use inflatable watercraft for resident rescues. Multiple homes were either flooded or destroyed, Xinhua stated. As of Tuesday morning, three fatalities and four missing persons were reported in that province.
CCTV also announced Tuesday that severe precipitation and flooding in southwestern Guizhou Province resulted in four deaths with five people still missing. The flooding damaged homes, destroyed roadways, and knocked out communication systems in various locations. More than 3,700 residents required relocation from one affected area, Xinhua reported.
In an unrelated incident, 10 people lost their lives when a pickup truck plunged from a bridge in the southern Guangxi region on Saturday, according to Xinhua.
