Recent flooding has hit several areas in Shandong Province, China. Linyi City has turned into a “water city,” with streets and garages flooded. Some cars are trapped in the water, and people are sitting on their car trunks seeking rescue. The floodwaters in Sishui County, Jining, have reached the waist of adults, with a local village dam collapsing. In Zibo, a man wearing a helmet near a drainage outlet was swept away by water. In Jinan, heavy rain brought an equivalent of nearly 700 “Daming Lake” worth of water.
On July 7th, heavy rainfall submerged Linyi City, turning the urban area into a vast expanse of water. Videos online show roads submerged, with an underground garage entrance in a one-mile area by the Yi River nearly completely flooded, leaving vehicles stranded. Due to the water’s depth, vehicles are unable to move, forcing people to wait for rescue on their car trunks.
Pictures shared by internet users show even the Linyi Airport flooded. Citizens questioned the effectiveness of the city’s drainage system.
Linyi News Network reported that some underpasses and roads in the city center had accumulated deep water. Thirteen underpasses were closed, including Yangshi Railway’s Qiyang Road and Linxi Jiuliu Road, Yemeng Road underpass in Suhunan Street, and Yemeng Road underpass in Suhubei Street. On that day, 52 bus routes in Linyi were temporarily suspended.
According to CCTV, as of 4:00 p.m. on July 7th, Linyi’s 38 large and medium-sized reservoirs had a total storage capacity of 903 million cubic meters, 63.7% higher than the same period in previous years. Two medium-sized reservoirs exceeded the flood-limit water level, and 269 small reservoirs were overflowing.
From 8:00 a.m. on July 6th to 6:00 p.m. on July 7th, Linyi City received an average precipitation of 116.7 millimeters; the total precipitation since the flood season began was 288.2 millimeters, 95.3% higher than previous years. By 7:00 p.m. on July 7th, 3,631 people in Linyi were affected, with 1,939 people evacuated urgently.
Local witnesses shared on social media that “the flood discharge in Linyi has caused great harm to the local people in Ganyu. The flood quickly filled the Ganyu River and coincided with the high tide, resulting in many homes being submerged.” They also mentioned that the upstream opening of floodgates led to flooding in several villages, and people were evacuated overnight without taking much of their belongings.
Not only Linyi but also Sishui County in Jinin…