China’s president has called for “all out” rescue efforts after storms in southern and central China killed at least 17 people, injured hundreds more and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents.
Intense rain and severe flooding from Typhoon Maysak killed at least six people in southern region Guangxi, where authorities raised the flood control emergency response to its highest level in the capital, Nanning.
Video shared by state broadcaster CCTV showed a torrent of muddy water rushing past the crumbled concrete walls of a burst reservoir dam.
Residents stranded by floodwaters are evacuated in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (China Daily via Reuters)
At least 130,000 people had been evacuated but 11 were still missing, according to regional officials.
Meanwhile, thunderstorms and gale-force winds killed another 11 people and injured more than 330 in central province Hubei, according to state news agency Xinhua.
A tornado tears through Hubei province amid lightning and strong winds. (Reuters)
Almost 5,000 homes have been damaged there and 22 have collapsed.
In a flooded Guangxi town, up to 900 snakes escaped when a breeding farm washed away, Wu Zhi, the head of a local village committee, told state-owned media Red Star News.
Videos of villagers frantically trying to catch the snakes in knee-deep floodwater have gone viral on social media.
No let-up in extreme weather
More heavy rain is expected to hit parts of Guangxi’s coastal and eastern regions today, as well as south-western Guangdong, according to Water Resources Minister Li Guoying.
“Due to the impact of persistent heavy rainfall and the prolonged passage of floodwaters at high levels, the safety of reservoirs and embankments in the affected areas faces a severe test,” Mr Li said.
Damage caused by a tornado in Huanggang City in central China’s Hubei Province. (Wu Zhizun/Xinhua via AP)
The National Meteorological Centre said north-eastern Hubei should also brace for further heavy-to-torrential rain.
Meanwhile, Super Typhoon Bavi is expected to affect Taiwan from Friday, with the worst of the wind and rain expected later that day and Saturday.
Bavi is expected to weaken slightly as it approaches northern Taiwan but may still remain a threat, with strength ranging from the lower end of a strong typhoon to the upper end of a moderate typhoon, the island’s weather administration said.
However, Taiwan Cabinet Secretary-General Xavier Chang said it could still bring more than a metre of rain to parts of the island.
Bavi reached wind speeds of up to 289 kilometres per hour as it swept across Guam, Tinian, Saipan and Rota on Monday.
About 29,000 military personnel are on stand-by in Taiwan to help with relief efforts.
Weather-related disasters common in China
Trading and outdoor activities were suspended in central China’s Henan Province in August when the region flooded. (Chinatopix via AP)
China regularly experiences flooding in summer, most frequently in the central and southern areas that tend to receive the most rainfall.
At least 22 people were killed in May when heavy rains lashed China’s central and southern regions, with some places “hit by record-breaking rainfall”, state media reported.
China’s worst floods in recent decades were in 1998, when more than 2,000 people died and almost 3 million homes were destroyed, mostly along the Yangtze, China’s mightiest river.
AFP/AP
