In the past five days, Guangdong Province has experienced the strongest rainfall process of the year, with Huaiji County in Zhaoqing City encountering a once-in-a-century flood, affecting 19 townships and 180,000 people in the county.
According to the “Zhaoqing Release” WeChat official account, since June 15, Huaiji County in Zhaoqing, Guangdong has experienced 3 consecutive flood peaks within 4 days.
Some residents revealed to NTD Television that due to the continuous unannounced flood discharge from the upstream reservoirs, the water levels of Fenggang River and Suijiang River surged. As of 7:05 on the 18th, the Suijiang Huaiji station (Huaicheng Street, Huaiji County, Zhaoqing City) recorded a peak water level of 55.22 meters, exceeding the alert level by 5.22 meters (alert water level 50.0 meters), a once-in-a-century event and the largest flood since the station was established.
A villager in Zhongzhou Town, Mr. Chen, said, “There was no warning, the water came very fast. Within ten minutes, the first floor was mostly submerged, and the market area was almost over two meters deep.”
Mr. Zhang, a business owner in Huaiji County, said, “Too much water from upstream has flowed into Huaiji, I dare not sleep. My shop is already flooded, the water is up to my neck.”
On the 18th, a reporter from Southern Daily saw in Huaiji that many roads in the county seat were submerged by floodwater, and water had risen to the second floor of some houses.
According to the cover news report, the flood disaster caused widespread power outages in the county seat, with few lights on high-rise buildings. Some residents on upper floors stayed on the streets to watch the flood due to elevator power failure. The guardrails and road signs on the city roads were underwater. Some people sat on the roofs of cars waiting for rescue, with water just below the roof of vehicles. Some shop owners waited for rescue inside their shops, with water up to their chests.
A resident of Huaiji County told Jimo News that they had power outages and no internet since the 17th. On the 18th, a communication vehicle arrived nearby and temporarily restored the network, but the signal was very weak.
A couple who had just moved out said they lived about 700 meters from the intersection of Yandu Square. The water started rising here on the 16th, with only tens of centimeters of flooding at that time. But by the afternoon of the 17th, with heavy rain, the water level began to rise, reaching the second floor. “It floods here every year, but we never expected it to be this deep this time. In previous years, it might have only reached the calves,” the couple said.
Another resident said the water flooded their home on the early morning of the 18th. They raised their belongings on raised beds overnight, but the flood reached 2 meters high, ultimately damaging all their furniture.
According to preliminary statistics, as of 7 am on the 18th, the current round of typhoon heavy rainfall disasters has affected 19 townships in Huaiji County, with 183,000 affected people, 68,000 evacuated urgently, about 7.84 kilometers of embankments damaged, 8.98 kilometers of roads damaged, 898.51 hectares of crops affected, 13 schools damaged, and 3 hospitals damaged. The current direct economic losses are approximately 41.25 million yuan.
On the afternoon of the 18th, a merchant in Huaiji County told The Paper that the accumulated water in the urban area had slowly receded, but the mobile communication signal was still poor.
A video circulated online showed the streets in ruins after the flood.
According to the data from the “Guangdong Hydrology” WeChat official account, as of 5 pm on June 18th, the water level at Huaiji (2) station had dropped to 53.67 meters but was still above the alert level.
The Huaiji County Flood Control, Drought Prevention, and Wind Control Headquarters escalated the flood emergency response from Level II to Level I at 7 pm on June 17. That night, the county implemented the “Five Stops” measures, namely stopping classes, work, production, transportation (including ferries), and business operations.