Landslide and Flooding Disrupts Southern China, Impacts Transportation

Emergency management authorities reported that eight individuals were rescued from a landslide in Dayuan village, Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and were immediately transported to the hospital. Sadly, one of the rescued individuals later succumbed to their injuries.

The landslide, triggered by persistent heavy rainfall, occurred around 8:30 am in the northern mountainous area of Guangzhou, causing damage to homes. Rescue operations are ongoing to locate and assist the remaining trapped individuals. Rescue workers are facing challenges due to the risk of secondary disasters, with occasional soil falling observed near the landslide site.

As of Wednesday afternoon, nearly a thousand residents near the landslide site had been evacuated. Local authorities have established two hotels as evacuation shelters and are conducting thorough inspections of nearby mountain slopes.

Guangdong province has been significantly impacted by prolonged heavy rainfall, leading to disruptions in roads, railways, and flights. Over seventy-five thousand people have been evacuated to safety. The average rainfall across the province from Tuesday to Wednesday morning was 56.6 millimeters, with the heaviest rainfall concentrated in several cities.

Twenty-three rivers and twenty-six hydrological stations exceeded warning levels. Local hydrological authorities issued a total of seventy-four flood warning alerts between Tuesday and Wednesday. Several rivers in Guangdong are expected to experience a rise in water levels, potentially exceeding alert levels in some areas.

Guangzhou experienced its most intense rainfall of the year from Saturday to Wednesday, according to local ecological and agricultural meteorological authorities. This recent rainfall was the strongest in Guangzhou for August and the fifth-strongest since the beginning of the century. The heavy rainfall is expected to end on Thursday.

As the rain belt moved northward, the impact on railway transportation gradually diminished. The railway group has resumed train services while conducting safety inspections. Regular-speed trains on several lines, including those between Beijing, Guangzhou, and Kowloon, as well as high-speed and intercity railways, have gradually resumed operations.

Thousands of passengers were stranded at railway stations in Hunan province due to the heavy rainfall. The railway group organized special trains to transfer stranded passengers from Chenzhou to Guangzhou. Over the past few days, the group has operated twenty high-speed special trains, transporting over thirty thousand passengers from various locations in Hunan.