Recent heavy rainfall has caused widespread flooding in Henan province, China, affecting 37 reservoirs that have exceeded their flood limits. At least three river embankments have burst or collapsed, a hospital has been submerged, and in the middle of the night, patients, doctors, and surrounding villagers fled the area.
Starting from August 10, influenced by the residual circulation of Typhoon “White Dolphin” and the interaction of cold and warm air masses, Henan experienced a period of extreme heavy rainfall. Cities like Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Pingdingshan, Xuchang, Luohe, Zhoukou, Nanyang, among others, encountered severe rainstorms, with Yexian Changcun station recording 356.9 millimeters of rainfall in 24 hours. In some areas, rainfall was excessively concentrated, leading to urban flooding, flash floods, river floods, and high water levels in reservoirs simultaneously.
On August 12, Henan issued a red alert for heavy rainfall, elevating flood prevention emergency responses to level two. Many places suspended classes, closed businesses, halted construction, production, and transportation. By 7:00 pm on August 12, 37 reservoirs in the province had surpassed their flood limits, with a first flood of 2026 emerging in the Shayang River.
From August 11 to 13, Changcun Town in Yexian, Henan, experienced over 500 millimeters of rainfall in three days. The water level in the Shimen Reservoir surged, leading to water overflowing the spillway and flooding a tourist road. Online videos showed a road near a fish farm submerged but not completely closed off, with people risking entering the floodwaters to catch fish washed away from the farm. Electrical facilities like transformers near the flooded road were also affected.
Around 7:00 pm on August 12, a section of the embankment on the left bank of the Ru River in Jia County, Pingdingshan, Henan, collapsed abnormally.
Local science blogger “Cold Knowledge” revealed online that a massive breach approximately 47.5 meters wide was torn open by the water flow. Due to the relatively low construction standards of this flood embankment, which was built early on by volunteers, the combined pressure from extreme heavy rainfall and the discharge of upstream reservoirs surpassed the physical limits of the embankment’s foundation in an instant.
After emergency repair work, as of the morning of August 14, the breach on the left bank of the Ru River had reduced from over 40 meters to around 10 meters. The accumulated water outside the embankment began to retreat rapidly, revealing some submerged crops.
Around 11:00 pm on August 13, a dam on the east bank of the Jalu River in Chuandian District, Zhoukou, collapsed, creating a breach 30 meters wide.
According to mainland media reports, the incident was caused by the massive influx of water from the upstream Jalu River and the backflow pressure from the Shayang River. As of the afternoon of August 14, the breach had not been closed, and water continued to flow out.
On social media, local blogger “Weather Master Xu” disclosed that following the dam breach, floodwater first entered the Fifth People’s Hospital in Chuandian District, Zhoukou. The ground floor of the hospital was submerged, with some hospital beds sitting in the water, making it difficult for many patients to evacuate on their own. Adjacent to the hospital, a driving school was also inundated by floodwater. Meanwhile, extensive farmland in surrounding villages turned into water surfaces, residential houses were flooded, warehouse goods were soaked, resulting in significant losses.
According to mainland news outlet “Focus News,” a patient named Mr. Xie from the hospital later shared in an interview that he was still asleep on the first floor around 4 am on August 14 when he heard someone yelling “the water is rising,” waking him up. In just about 10 minutes, most of the ground floor was submerged up to waist-deep.
Some netizens questioned the official statement stating the breach occurred at 11:00 pm while patients on the first floor were only alerted after the flooding, wondering why the hospital did not initiate an evacuation plan earlier following the warning.
Meanwhile, the embankment along the Qingyuan River in Cangtou Village, Yanling County, Xuchang, collapsed due to prolonged high water levels in the river channel. Official information on the extent of the damage in Yanling has not been disclosed yet.
In the early hours of August 13, Henan officially opened the Nihewo National Flood Storage Area. Public data shows that this flood storage area was previously activated during the Huai River flood in 2000 and experienced an overflow during a major flood in 1975.
The Nihewo storage area has a maximum capacity of approximately 2.36 to 2.38 billion cubic meters, covering four townships, 116 natural villages in Wayang County.
Official announcements revealed that a total of 4,848 people would be evacuated, with 4,567 individuals from ten villages in Beiwu District and Jiangdian Township and an additional 281 outside the targeted evacuation area.