In the early hours of July 1st, a flood broke out in Enshi Xianfeng County, Hubei Province, submerging the entire city overnight and washing away many vehicles. The scene of the flood was shocking, with a blogger even exclaiming that it was the first time they had seen such a massive flood.
According to reports from various Chinese media outlets such as Extreme Vision News and Elephant News, from the night of June 30th to the early hours of July 1st, Enshi Xianfeng County in Hubei Province experienced heavy rainfall. Some streets were flooded, and a large number of cars were swept into the river.
At 6:00 am on July 1st, Xianfeng issued a red alert for heavy rain, with the highest precipitation occurring in the urban area reaching 264 millimeters. Some locals described the situation, mentioning that several bridges had collapsed, and there were water, electricity, and gas outages in some areas.
Local residents said that the rainfall started around 2:00 am on July 1st, causing damage to many homes. A blogger shared a video saying that it was the first time they had seen such a massive flood, estimating that no one in the whole city could sleep.
It was reported that from last night to this morning, Xianfeng, a subordinate of Enshi in Hubei Province, experienced record-breaking heavy rainfall, with the highest hourly rainfall reaching 79.5 millimeters, and a total rainfall of 342.2 millimeters from 8:00 pm last night to 8:00 am this morning (meteorological statistics count a day from 8:00 pm). These figures broke local records for hourly and daily rainfall. In contrast, the nearby Xuanen had less than 15 millimeters of rainfall, more than 20 times less.
A viral video online showed flooded streets and swept-away vehicles.
On July 1st, all bus routes in the local area were suspended, and urban schools (including Qujiang) and non-residential schools (kindergartens) were closed for a day. Officials claimed that there were no reports of casualties, and the extent of property damage was still being assessed. However, the Chinese Communist Party is known for concealing information, making it difficult for the outside world to determine the actual situation of casualties and damages.
According to the China Weather Network, yesterday (June 30th), rainfall mainly occurred in the Sichuan Basin, the eastern part of the northwest, northeast China, North China, Huanghuai regions, and other areas. From 8:00 am yesterday to 6:00 am today, parts of eastern Yunnan, western Guizhou, northeastern Sichuan, northern Chongqing, southeastern Shaanxi, western Hubei, central and western Henan, southeastern Inner Mongolia, eastern Liaoning, central Jilin, and southern Heilongjiang experienced heavy rain or torrential rain, with parts of Enshi in Hubei experiencing severe rainfall. Over the next three days (July 1st to 3rd), the southwestern, northeastern, and eastern parts of the northwestern region, North China, and Northeast China are expected to continue to experience frequent rainfall, with some areas receiving heavy rain, along with severe convective weather.