Severe Floods Hit Zhaoqing, Qingyuan, and Shaoguan in Guangdong
On April 20th and 21st, severe floods occurred in Guangdong’s Zhaoqing, Qingyuan, and Shaoguan. Videos captured scenes of ground floors of buildings being submerged and cars being washed away, leaving residents with no choice but to evacuate.
A viral video showed the severity of the flooding in Qingyuan City’s Qingcheng District on April 21st, with floodwaters rushing into underground parking lots, turning streets into makeshift rivers. The floods also inundated Yangshan Middle School in Qingyuan, with the school gate surrounded by water. In Zhaoqing’s Huaiji County, streets were completely transformed into waterways.
The Qingcheng District Education Bureau in Qingyuan issued a notice on April 21st, stating that based on the meteorological department’s forecast, the district was expected to experience continuous heavy to extremely heavy rain on April 21st and 22nd. As a result, all primary and secondary schools, as well as kindergartens in the district, would be suspended for one day on April 22nd (Monday), with extracurricular training institutions and daycare centers ceasing operations.
According to hydro-meteorological monitoring data, from 8 a.m. on April 20th to 8 a.m. on April 21st, there were heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the central and northern parts of Guangdong Province, particularly in Zhaoqing, Shaoguan, Qingyuan, and Jiangmen. By 8 a.m. on April 21st, 27 hydrological stations across Guangdong Province had water levels exceeding warning levels. It was anticipated that on the 21st, the Xijiang River Basin, He River, and sections of the Bei River Basin such as the Lian River, Sui River, and Cong River would witness flood peak water levels that occur only once every fifty years, presenting a grave flood prevention situation.
Another video showed the flooding that struck Shaoguan on the 20th, with residents shouting, “The wall has collapsed!” A wall in a residential community was knocked down by floodwaters, which also swept away cars and bicycles. The footage depicted residents helping each other through the difficult circumstances in the flooding.
In another video from the same day, the streets of Shaoguan were submerged, with floodwaters nearly reaching adults’ necks. A man was seen navigating through the water while pushing an electric scooter, with only his head above the flood.
On the 20th, Qingyuan in Guangdong faced similar flooding, where roads were submerged and the ground floors of residents’ homes were nearly underwater. In Zhaoqing, floods inundated the ground floors of residential buildings, with no official rescue measures in place, forcing residents to evacuate on their own.