On the evening of August 7th, the central-eastern region of Gansu Province was hit by heavy rainfall, triggering flash floods and mudslides, which left over 4,000 people trapped in Yuzhong County, Lanzhou City, with 3 people reported missing.
In the late evening of August 7th, central Gansu experienced continuous heavy rainfall, with Lanzhou, Linxia, Baiyin, and other areas enduring moderate to heavy rain. Starting around 6 p.m. on August 7th, Yuzhong County in Lanzhou encountered short but intense rainfall, particularly in the Xinglong Mountain area, reaching the level of torrential rain. As of 6 a.m. on August 8th, the estimated precipitation in the Xinglong Mountain area of Yuzhong reached 195.0 millimeters.
Videos circulated online showed damage to some facilities around river channels, vehicles being swept away, and roads being washed out. Local internet users commented, “I’m over sixty and it’s the first time I’ve seen such heavy rain in Yuzhong,” “The water in Yuzhong County town last night was up to my knees, a friend’s ancestral home collapsed,” and “The heavy rain last night caused our house to leak until now.”
State-run CCTV News reported that the heavy rainfall triggered flash floods, carrying a large amount of mud, debris, and garbage onto the roads in the Xinglong Mountain area of Yuzhong County, damaging the electricity (and communication) infrastructure, leading to over 4,000 people from 1,300 households in 4 villages being trapped.
According to information obtained from the propaganda department of Yuzhong County Committee in Gansu Province, around 10:20 p.m. that night, Ma Liantan Village in Mapo Township, Yuzhong County, experienced a mudslide disaster due to continuous heavy rainfall. Preliminary estimates indicate that the mudslide in Ma Liantan Village has left 3 people missing.
Given the Chinese Communist Party’s tendency to conceal disaster situations, the actual circumstances may be even more serious.