A powerful tropical storm has killed two people, caused multiple dam breaches, and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents across southern China.
Typhoon Maysak claimed two lives in Nanning, located in China’s southern Guangxi province. After lashing Vietnam and the southern Chinese island province of Hainan over the weekend, the storm is now dumping massive volumes of water across the region. Meteorologists warn that the system will continue to unleash heavy rainfall as it weakens and moves farther inland.
In Nanning, the capital of the Guangxi region, the floods have already impacted approximately 55,000 people. Local authorities reported that water was overflowing or breaking through barriers at three separate reservoirs, forcing the emergency evacuation of around 48,000 residents.
In response to the crisis, officials raised the flood control emergency response to its highest level. They warned that the ongoing “extremely heavy rain” could severely worsen conditions and hamper rescue operations.
Read more about this topic: China: heavy rains tied to passing typhoon paralyze southern Taiwan (with video)
The devastation extends well beyond the regional capital. In the nearby city of Guigang, located about 170 miles (270 km) away, rising floodwaters transformed a major roadway into a lake, submerging vehicles and sending brown torrents cascading down hillsides into active construction sites.
The Ministry of Water Resources confirmed that the water level at the Guigang hydrological station had surged to 42 meters by midday Monday. Farther south in Fangchenggang, dramatic footage showed small cars being washed down city streets and residents struggling against powerful currents to save their vehicles.
The severe weather is not contained to the south. Heavy rains in northern China have claimed five more lives, including two people caught in a flash flood in Inner Mongolia and three others in Fushun, Liaoning province.
The current devastation comes as China braces for another massive meteorological threat. The country is on high alert for Super Typhoon Bavi, which is currently tearing across the Pacific Ocean toward Taiwan. The US National Weather Service reported that Bavi packed winds of up to 180 mph as it tore through the islands of Guam, Tinian, Saipan, and Rota on Monday. Weather authorities expect Bavi to bring destructive winds and heavy rain to eastern China starting Thursday.
Read more: China: rains force evacuation of 36,000 people (with video)
Meteorologists directly link these escalating threats to the global climate crisis. Analysts warn that such extreme weather events carry immense economic risks for China, threatening to wipe out tens of billions of dollars in commercial activity annually through flooded cities, halted industrial hubs, and destroyed crops.
Maysak initially made landfall on Friday in Hainan, marking the first tropical cyclone to hit the Chinese mainland this year. It made a second landfall in Vietnam on Sunday, downing trees and ripping metal roofs from buildings in the border city of Mong Cai before crossing into Guangxi. Forecasters expect the heavy rainfall to expand across Guangxi, Guizhou, and Hunan in the coming days—a combined region populated by more than 150 million people.
