Thousands evacuated as severe flooding hits southern China

By AFP
June 19, 2025
A man wades past a submerged car along a flooded street following heavy rains in Zhengzhou, China, July 20, 2021. — AFP
A man wades past a submerged car along a flooded street following heavy rains in Zhengzhou, China, July 20, 2021. — AFP

BEIJING: Nearly 70,000 people in southern China have been evacuated after heavy flooding caused by Typhoon Wutip, Chinese state media reported on Wednesday.

Vast areas of Zhaoqing city in Guangdong province were submerged, with floodwaters inundating shopfronts and covering roads, footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed.

Rescuers pushed stranded cars out of the water and used dinghies to transport residents to safety.

Other images showed rescuers wading through water while carrying stranded people on their backs.

The flooding had affected 183,000 residents in Zhaoqing´s Huaiji county, with the city mobilising more than 10,000 rescue personnel, state media outlet Xinhua reported.

The flooding affected much of Guangdong province and the neighbouring Guangxi region.

Footage from CCTV filmed on Tuesday showed rescuers in Guangxi dragging a rubber boat crammed with people through knee-deep water as heavy rain continued to fall.

Typhoon Wutip, China´s first typhoon of the year, made landfall on the island province of Hainan last Friday, before moving to Guangdong on Saturday.