China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is currently experiencing the strongest precipitation event since the 1950s, with severe flooding affecting many areas across the region. According to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Meteorological Bureau, from July 23 to 26, the total precipitation has exceeded 60% of the annual average precipitation for the entire region, setting a new record since 1956.
During the peak travel season in Inner Mongolia, many tourists have been caught up in this “century’s heavy rain,” experiencing a harrowing “journey of disaster.” Local residents and tourists have recounted the experiences they went through during this period of extreme weather.
Mr. Ge and his family from Zhejiang set out on a self-driving trip to the Xiangshawan Scenic Area in Inner Mongolia during their annual leave, only to encounter “desert gales, thunderous rain, and hailstorms.” On the evening of July 28th around 7 p.m., while waiting indoors at the No. 3 cable car station in Xiangshawan Scenic Area, the sudden gale, rain, and thunder made Mr. Ge’s wife still shudder with fear, recalling, “The rain outside was pouring in, everything turned pitch black, it was terrifying.”
Due to the severe weather conditions, the staff at the scenic area pulled down the blinds and cut off power supply, relying only on emergency lights for illumination. The waiting hall was packed with over a thousand stranded tourists, all anxiously waiting. Mr. Ge and his family lingered in the waiting hall for about two hours before slowly making their way down the cable car. However, the rain was still pouring heavily at the foot of the mountain, making it difficult to move.
After another half an hour of waiting, they finally boarded a shuttle bus to reach the parking lot and drive out of the scenic area. However, the highway was already closed, forcing them to take a detour via a provincial road towards Baotou. The water on the road reached nearly one meter deep at one point, leaving them on edge. Finally, Mr. Ge and his family arrived in Hohhot at around 1:30 a.m., only to find that their hotel reservation had been canceled last minute. It was the red rainstorm warning that popped up on their phones that made Mr. Ge truly realize the severity of the downpour.
Ms. Qiao from Chengdu, while experiencing the “Crossing the Grassland” activity at Hulunbuir Grassland, also went through a heart-pounding moment. She described to the media, “Water mixed with mud, even the four-wheel drive was sliding, we had to move forward slowly, fearing collisions.”
Similarly, Mr. Du, who traveled from Chengdu to Inner Mongolia for business, faced a perilous situation. On the evening of July 25th, driving from Xilinguole Meng Zhengxiang Banner to Taipusi Banner, he encountered a dilemma where “it rained all day, and the county road was washed away by sand, I saw several cars being stuck.” With the county road closed, Mr. Du had to follow the navigation to take a detour through the grassland trails, with poor visibility at night and waterlogging on the road, almost stalling the car. What was supposed to be an hour’s journey took Mr. Du a full 5 hours to complete.
The danger didn’t end there for Mr. Du. Early Saturday morning around 6 o’clock, he was awakened by the hotel’s call to move his car, only to find that the parking lot outside had collapsed, with three cars unfortunately trapped, and his car just a few meters away from the collapse.
51-year-old Hohhot resident Wang Zhigang, as a native of the region, personally witnessed this historic and prolonged heavy rain. He recounted, “This is probably the third big rain since the establishment of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 1947, the last time such heavy rain occurred was about 30 years ago.”
The heavy rain lasted for 3 to 4 days, with the rainwater gradually increasing from north to south. Due to the topography of Hohhot, with the north being higher than the south, the floodwaters from the northern mountainous areas cascaded down, severely impacting the city’s waterways and surrounding environment. “The low-lying bridges, culverts, especially overpasses, almost all vehicles passing underneath were submerged,” Wang Zhigang said. The water level on the roads kept rising, forcing vehicles to move to higher ground, leading to severe traffic congestion.
“The situation in the north is particularly severe, with several neighborhoods experiencing water accumulation, and even some underground garage basements were flooded. The south is relatively better, but there is still a large amount of water accumulation, causing vehicles to be washed away,” said Wang Zhigang. Despite varying degrees of property damage suffered by himself and those around him, Wang Zhigang believed that his area was not the worst-hit, with “Fengzhen and Jining suffering more severe damage.”