Relentless and unyielding rainfall has unleashed devastating flash floods across China's northwestern Gansu province, claiming the lives of at least 10 people and leaving 33 others missing, according to Chinese state media reports released on Friday. These deadly floods mark another chapter in a series of intense August downpours that have battered the country with some of the heaviest rainfall seen in decades. In response to the disaster, Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged comprehensive and urgent rescue and recovery operations to save lives and provide aid to the affected.
In a separate but equally tragic incident, a rain-induced landslide struck Dayuan Village in Guangzhou, killing seven individuals and injuring seven more. The landslide buried several homes, further compounding the humanitarian toll from these rain-related disasters. With these incidents combined, the total death count from torrential weather events in China over just the past two days has risen to 17.
The severe weather began on Thursday, when Yuzhong County was lashed by torrential rainfall, triggering flash floods and at least one landslide in the mountainous areas surrounding Lanzhou city. The deluge caused significant damage to local infrastructure, knocking out both electricity and telecommunications services in the Xinglong mountain region. As a result, more than 4,000 residents in four separate villages were left isolated and unreachable.
In response to the rapidly unfolding crisis, provincial officials have mobilized an extensive emergency response force, including over 2,700 personnel, nearly 1,000 vehicles and machinery units, and more than 8,500 sets of emergency relief supplies. These resources are being used to search for missing persons, repair critical infrastructure, and relocate displaced residents to safer areas.
Meanwhile, southern regions of China are also grappling with unprecedented rainfall, including the province of Guangdong, where officials describe the recent weather as the most severe August rainfall event recorded since the 19th century. Rescue teams are actively working to remove debris, unclog drainage systems, and pump out floodwaters from urban centers. The flooding has caused widespread damage, toppling trees, washing away roads, and even exposing electrical cables buried beneath the surface.
The extreme weather has also significantly disrupted air travel, with Guangzhou’s Baiyun International Airport cancelling more than 360 flights and delaying over 300 on Wednesday alone. Health concerns are mounting as well, with stagnant water creating breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes. Health officials have reported a surge in chikungunya cases in the aftermath of the flooding, with more than 7,000 infections already documented in Guangdong this year.
China has been experiencing relentless and widespread extreme weather since July, as the East Asian monsoon remains stalled between northern and southern regions. Meteorologists and environmental experts have attributed these erratic weather patterns to climate change, which continues to displace tens of thousands of people, devastate farmland, and put crucial infrastructure and billions of dollars in assets at risk. In light of these challenges, the Chinese government has allocated over one billion yuan (approximately USD 139 million) in disaster relief funding to support the hardest-hit provinces, including Hebei, Inner Mongolia, and Guangdong.
