In recent days, Longshan County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Province, has been hit by heavy rainstorms, causing severe local disasters and water supply interruptions in the county town. At least 4 people have gone missing in underground parking lots. Due to the concurrent period of the high school entrance examination, some examination rooms at the Longshan County No.3 Middle School have been flooded, leading to the absence of 37 middle school candidates.
June 19, the second day of the high school entrance examination in Longshan County, Xiangxi, Hunan, was heavily affected by heavy rain, resulting in severe flooding in some areas. Some candidates even swam to the examination site to take the test.
Videos released by local residents showed that some parts of the area were severely flooded. In the early morning of the 19th, a candidate in white clothes swam across a flooded area wearing a floatation ring.
According to Jumei News, the location where the male student was swimming is at the intersection of Xiang’e Road and Huilong Road in Longshan County. The owners of two local businesses confirmed that in the early morning, indeed, a teenage boy in white clothes wearing a floatation ring swam across the flooded area. He appeared to be a child, not tall, carrying a plastic bag in addition to the floatation ring, which contained clean clothes and books, and after swimming to a shallower area, he headed towards Longshan County No.3 Middle School, the location of the examination center.
In the afternoon of the 19th, local education bureau staff responded that this young boy should be a candidate taking the examination. Due to the flooding in parts of the urban area due to heavy rain, some candidates were delayed.
As reported by Hunan Daily, at 8 a.m. on June 19, the water depth at the entrance of the Longshan County No.3 Middle School examination center reached 1.6 meters, and some examination rooms were flooded.
This year, a total of 8,150 candidates participated in the high school entrance examination in Longshan County. Xiangrong, the director of the Education Bureau of Longshan County, stated that there were 37 absent candidates due to the rain. Make-up examinations will be arranged in due course using backup test papers.
According to Xinjingbao, owners in the Longling International Community in Longshan County reported that some car owners who went to move vehicles in the underground parking lot lost contact. One owner mentioned that in the early hours of June 19, due to the rapid rise of water in the garage, some vehicle owners couldn’t evacuate in time because the pumping of water from the garage was progressing slowly due to the excessive flooding. It was learned from the Fengyang Community Committee that four people were initially confirmed missing.
On June 20, the Emergency Management Bureau of Longshan County issued a situation report stating that due to continuous heavy rainfall, roads in various parts of Longshan County have collapsed, bridges have been damaged, internal flooding has occurred in the county town, and multiple communities have been submerged, leading to the disappearance of 4 individuals in the Longling International Community underground parking lot in the urban area.
According to the Rong Media Center in Longshan County, from 8 a.m. on June 18 to 8 a.m. on June 19, 40 monitoring stations in 21 townships/neighborhoods in Longshan County experienced heavy rainfall, with an average precipitation of 136.3 millimeters, including 13 stations with heavy rain and 10 stations with severe rainfall. The Wuya Station in Da’an Township recorded 378.9 millimeters of precipitation, setting a new record for the highest 24-hour rainfall in the province, while the Huatang neighborhood had a peak rain intensity of 62.9 millimeters per hour from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. on the 19th.
It was reported that the water level of the Guoli River in the county town rose by 9.57 meters, far exceeding historical flood levels, resulting in over 600 households in Xinglong and Min’an streets being flooded; the Xichao River, a small to medium-sized river, also experienced water levels exceeding the warning level at one monitoring station. Due to the flooding, the Shigao Water Plant was unable to provide normal water supply starting from 7 a.m. on June 19, resulting in a water supply interruption in Longshan County town.
As per the official WeChat account “I am Longshan” of the Publicity Department of Longshan County Party Committee, from the evening of June 18 onwards, Longshan County has experienced continuous heavy to severe rainstorms, resulting in road collapses, flooding, bridge damages, and damage to houses and agricultural crops. According to meteorological statistics, from 6 p.m. on June 18 to 6 p.m. on June 19, Longshan County received a maximum rainfall of 430.6 millimeters, with precipitation in many areas surpassing historical records. Preliminary statistics show that 52,500 people have been affected, 108 hectares of crops have been damaged, and the direct economic loss amounts to approximately 112 million yuan.