In a rare and persistent extreme rainfall since early August, Guangdong Province has been hit by a series of disasters such as widespread flooding and landslides, exacerbated by emergency reservoir overflow. Cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou, and Qingyuan have been deeply affected by the floods, with houses washed away, streets submerged, and residents suffering significant losses.
Guangzhou has faced the strongest rainfall since the beginning of August, with astonishing cumulative rainfall recorded from August 2nd to 6th. Areas like Huadu, Conghua, and Zengcheng have experienced heavy to severe rainfalls, accompanied by strong winds and thunderstorms. This rainfall has reached a particularly severe impact level, marking as the second strongest rainstorm in August this century, only second to historical extreme values.
On August 6th, a landslide occurred in the Dayuan Street of Baiyun District, with several residential buildings collapsing instantly and dozens of individuals trapped under the debris. By evening of that day, one rescued individual had unfortunately succumbed to their injuries, while the fate of others remains uncertain.
A resident in Baiyun District of Guangzhou, witnessing neighboring houses collapse in the torrential rain, urgently appealed to the media for help: “Our walls have cracked too, and we are truly afraid. Who will come and assist us?”
Due to the continuous heavy rain, the Flowing Creek Reservoir in Conghua District started releasing water rapidly on August 6th, with the outflow reaching 300 cubic meters per second. The rising water levels led to the partial collapse of dams in areas like Guifeng Village in Lutian Town, forcing residents along the banks to evacuate immediately.
The severe rainfall has severely impacted aviation transport, with Guangzhou Baiyun Airport reporting 311 delayed flights and 363 cancellations as of 9:50 am on August 6th. The delay and cancellation rates stood at 38% and 20%, respectively. Citizens faced travel disruptions, with severe water logging on multiple city roads making it difficult for vehicles to move, and some low-lying areas being knee-deep in water, hindering residents’ movements.
The meteorological department has issued warnings indicating that the heavy rain is far from over, with high risks of flash floods, mudslides, and other disasters.
Shenzhen has experienced a record-breaking intensity of rainfall in this round of downpours. From August 3rd to 5th, the city averaged 256.3 millimeters of rainfall, while the Sanhe Special Cooperation Zone, Haomen Street registered an astonishing 891.6 millimeters over three days, setting a new provincial record for rainfall, exceeding nearly half of the annual average. In the early hours of August 5th, Shenzhen announced a red alert for heavy rain citywide for the first time in seven years.
In a community in Longhua District, a severe road collapse incident occurred in the early hours of August 5th, burying multiple private vehicles under mudslides. Although there were no casualties reported officially, residents shared distressing videos online, recounting how they were awakened by a deafening roar akin to “mountains collapsing” and watched helplessly as their cars were swallowed into deep sinkholes.
The heavy rainfall caused water levels to rise sharply in several urban rivers in Shenzhen, inundating low-lying areas. Some road sections were submerged up to two meters deep, trapping vehicles and impeding residents’ movements. Online reports from residents indicated that in some areas, the flooding had reached chest height, turning once bustling streets into rushing rivers resembling scenes from doomsday movies.
The power supply was also severely affected by the deluge. According to mainland reports, hundreds of thousands of households experienced power cuts, with some areas facing hours-long electricity outages. Mr. Zhang, a resident, complained, “We’ve had no electricity at home for a whole day and even our phones are dead. The roads outside are submerged, so there’s simply no way out.”
Dongguan, too, became a heavily affected area in this round of heavy rainfall, with streets turning into vast expanses of water. Huangjiang Town, Xiegang Town, and Zhangmutou Town received over 400 millimeters of rainfall, causing street flooding up to adult waist height. At Cha Mountain Town, a resident told mainland media that the river water had swept into the community, nearly every household was inundated, and even “water was gushing out from the toilets!”
According to reports, the Cha Mountain Wharf community in Cha Mountain Town, built on the riverside, suffered inundation, with water levels reaching a meter high, resulting in severe damage to furniture and electronics. Despite residents’ emergency efforts to stack sandbags to block the floodwaters, their effectiveness was limited. Ms. Chen, a resident, lamented, “The water in our home is up to our waists, the refrigerator, sofa – everything is soaked. We can’t stay there and can only temporarily move to relatives’ homes.”
The Dalingshan Tunnel saw waterlogging of nearly two meters deep, with a sedan inside the tunnel quickly engulfed by floodwaters after stalling. Several kind-hearted citizens jumped into the water to rescue the driver.
The power supply system suffered substantial damage, leaving tens of thousands of users in darkness. According to Southern Power Grid reports, repair work in Huizhou, Dongguan, and surrounding areas faced immense challenges, with some regions submerged chest-deep, making power restoration a daunting task.
A head of power repairs in Dongguan worked tirelessly across multiple cities for three consecutive days and witnessed several communities “submerged in vast waters,” with countless families suffering substantial losses. The situation of “no electricity, no water, unable to leave the building” became a common plight.
Huizhou issued multiple flood warnings during this heavy rainfall, leading to severe internal flooding in various areas. In the early hours of August 6th, several towns in Huicheng District, Huizhou, issued a “five-stop” directive, including suspending classes, work, production, transport, and business. A resident of Huizhou described how the entire city seemed submerged in water when viewed from a higher place, with low-lying areas already flooded into homes.
Reportedly, a Huizhou resident, Ms. Zhang, recounted her home being immersed in floodwater, saying helplessly, “The ground floor is entirely submerged, and we spent the whole night at the door stacking sandbags, taking turns with neighbors to guard against the fear that the house may not hold up.”
In some communities in Huizhou, a substantial amount of rainwater cascaded like waterfalls into garages, leading residents and property personnel to use their bodies to resist the floodgates in a bid to block the water accumulation.
The heavy rainfall also severely impacted the power supply in Huizhou. In some areas of Huidong County in Huizhou, water depths exceeded one meter, posing immense challenges for power personnel to undertake repairs amid the torrential rain.
In Qingyuan, Fokang District, multiple transportation routes collapsed, were cut off, and water conservancy projects were damaged, showcasing the dangers posed by the heavy rainfall.
According to the latest meteorological forecast, the strong rainfall in Guangdong is expected to significantly weaken on August 7th, transitioning to cloudy weather in most areas from August 8th onwards. However, the historic rainfall lasting over 72 hours continues to have profound impacts on Guangdong, resulting in systemic paralysis due to transportation breakdowns, drainage system collapses, power cuts, and delayed emergency responses, plunging many regions into a state of “systemic breakdown.”
With numerous landslides and house collapses leading to missing persons, the true extent of casualties remains unknown to the outside world.