Guizhou: Days of heavy rainfall have led to severe flooding in China, triggering damage and reports of missing people. In the southwestern province of Guizhou, a highway bridge in Sandu County collapsed following a landslide, state media reported. Footage from the accident site showed a lorry with its front part hanging precariously over the abyss, narrowly avoiding a fall. The driver was reported unharmed.
According to Ghana News Agency, in the vicinity of the accident site, rivers burst their banks. Videos circulating online showed brown floodwaters gushing through a shopping center in Rongjiang County. Chinese state television called it the area’s worst flooding in 30 years. Rescue workers in the northwestern province of Gansu were searching for five missing people in Jingyuan County, state media reported. Flash floods had taken people by surprise and left a trail of destruction.
Meteorologists have predicted more rain in the coming days in western, central, and eastern China. While the south is struggling with an excess of water, many people in the north are suffering from extreme heat. In and around Beijing, as well as parts of northeastern and western China, temperatures reached highs of up to 39 degrees Celsius, according to the weather authority.
Heavy rainfall and flooding regularly affect large parts of the People’s Republic of China during the summer months. In the mountainous regions of the southwest, this often triggers mudslides. This year, at least 22 people have lost their lives nationwide due to storms, floods, and mudslides, according to state media.