Four dead, three missing as heavy rains hit Hunan, China

This photo taken from a helicopter on July 29, 2024, shows parts of the disaster-hit areas in Zixing city, central China’s Hunan province. Several helicopters were sent on Monday to transport drinking water, rice, vegetables, medicine and other daily necessities to some disaster-hit areas in Zixing city, and then relocate people stranded in flooded homes. (Photo: Xinhua)

Days of heavy rains caused by Typhoon Gaemi in Zixing city, Hunan province in central China, have left four people dead and three missing in four villages in Zhoumensi city and Bamianshan county. Local emergency relief efforts are still ongoing.

Since July 26, Zixing has experienced extreme rainfall, with precipitation exceeding historical records. An average rainfall of 410 millimeters has been reported, the maximum rainfall is 673.6 millimeters, with the 24-hour single-point rainfall exceeding 645.2 millimeters and the maximum hourly rainfall intensity reaching 132.2 millimeters, according to the Zixing Flood Control and Drought Control Headquarters.

The heavy rains have caused varying degrees of damage to all townships in Zixing. About 87,200 residents have been affected by the rains, in addition to 1,432 damaged houses, 1,345 collapsed road sections and 14 road closures.

In 78 village groups in eight municipalities, communication has been disrupted and in nine municipalities, power has gone out.

Zhoumensi City is one of the hardest hit cities in Zixing. As the floodwaters receded, local officials sent rescue teams to help with dredging and moving debris, as well as epidemic prevention.

After the disaster, Zixing quickly activated Level I flood control emergency response and Level III natural disaster emergency response. It also mobilized various forces and deployed emergency personnel and materials to repair damaged infrastructure, distribute relief supplies, and minimize casualties.

Provincial Party Secretary Shen Xiaoming, who visited the disaster site on Monday, stressed the importance of restoring access to roads, electricity and communications networks. He said that access to roads and speeding up the restoration of damaged infrastructure should be given top priority in disaster relief operations.

Shen also said that it is necessary to comprehensively assess the number of people affected, given the large geographical size, mountainous terrain and dispersed population in the disaster-affected areas.

Local police departments are using various methods, such as real-time communication and door-to-door checks, to quickly assess the situation of the affected population and prioritize rescuing trapped people, treating injured people and searching for missing persons, Shen said.

As of Monday evening, Zixing has deployed 19 rescue teams, 5,469 professional rescuers, four helicopters and 144 boat trips. They have cleared eight roads, repaired 68 communication base stations, dropped 20.9 tons of supplies, urgently relocated 11,379 people, resettled 4,451 people and transferred 32 wounded.

In the nearby city of Xiangtan, at least three dikes along a tributary of the Xiangjiang River have burst. At the time of going to press, repairs to the dike in Liushuwan, Xiangtan’s Longtan village, had been completed, while the other two bursts are allowing water to drain naturally.

The Central Meteorological Observatory continued to issue a yellow warning for severe convective weather on Tuesday. Parts of central and northeastern Hebei and southern Tianjin are expected to experience thunderstorms with winds of up to 11 on the Beaufort scale from Tuesday morning into Wednesday.

In central and northeastern Hebei, northeastern Beijing, northern and southwestern Tianjin, southern Henan, northeastern Chongqing, central Yunnan, southeastern Guangxi and southwestern Guangdong, rainfall amounts exceed 50 millimeters per hour, with a maximum of more than 80 millimeters.

Meanwhile, the Central Meteorological Observatory has also issued an orange warning for heavy rain early Tuesday. Heavy to torrential rain is expected to hit 14 provinces from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning, including parts of northern Hebei, northeastern Shanxi, southeastern Inner Mongolia, Beijing, Tianjin and southern Heilongjiang.

According to the observatory, heavy rainfall of up to 180 millimeters is forecast in some areas, accompanied by thunderstorms, strong winds and other severe convective weather conditions.

It is notable that in the Chinese capital Beijing, the average rainfall from Monday midnight to Tuesday was 42.9 millimeters, while the urban area averaged 56.4 millimeters. The highest rainfall was in Xiaotangshan Agricultural Park in Changping District, where it reached 159.3 millimeters.

As the rainfall situation develops, Shijingshan, Haidian, Mentougou, Changping and Huairou counties have successively raised the alert to orange alert. In response to the heavy rainfall, Beijing Water Authority activated the level III flood control response on Tuesday afternoon to deal with any emergency.

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