Heavy rainfall affects over 400,000 in Hunan province

The torrential rains that have pounded northern and northwestern Hunan province since Wednesday have affected more than 400,000 people in seven cities and prefecture-level areas of the province, with more downpours forecast through Tuesday.

Provincial authorities said that the heavy rain triggered the worst flood since 1998 along Hunan's Lishui River, with rainfall reaching 648 millimeters at one of the observation stations.

Urban as well as rural communities have suffered extensive damage, with the sudden flooding submerging shops and homes, leaving thick layers of mud and debris.

In Longshan county, an auxiliary police officer waded through waist-deep water to carry four children to safety, then returned to evacuate four more family members from the flooded neighborhood.

In the city of Loudi, villagers in the mountains were evacuated as the risk of landslides increased. Rescuers, assisted by thermal-imaging cameras and police teams, located a person who had gone missing while picking mushrooms.

Elderly residents in high-risk homes were relocated to safer areas.

"We learned (the day after evacuation) that a house where two elderly residents lived had suddenly collapsed," said an official from Wentian township who took part in the evacuation. "Fortunately, they were moved in time, averting a tragedy."

As of 5 pm on Saturday, emergency teams had evacuated over 112,000 people to safety across the province.

The Hunan Meteorological Bureau warned of downpours across central Hunan through Tuesday, accompanied by torrential bursts of rain and winds reaching Force 7 to Force 9 on the Beaufort scale (from 50 kilometers per hour to 88 km/h) in Huaihua, Yiyang and other cities.

As of Sunday, authorities in Huaihua had issued 17 evacuation alerts and urged more than 30,900 people in 12,325 rural households in areas hit hardest by the rainfall to evacuate, arranging for their early relocation.

In Mayang county's Tonglingxi village, a site considered to be at high risk, 27 residents of nine households were safely moved to a centralized shelter.

"This place is very well organized," said local villager Zheng Pingping. "Emergency workers came to our homes and brought us here. They've provided all our daily necessities, and our meals include meat, vegetables and soup."

Gong Zhipeng of the emergency management department of Yuanling county said: "We're using satellites and drones to check how wet the soil is and quickly detect any danger spots. We're also patrolling areas prone to flash floods."

Rail travel has been disrupted. According to the Weibo account of the Huaihua train depot, more than 60 passenger train trips were suspended from Saturday to Monday due to intense rainfall.

To address the risk of underground flooding, the provincial housing and urban-rural development department issued an urgent notice requiring 24-hour staffing and strict access controls in all basements and underground facilities. Warning signs are required to prominently displayed, and entry is prohibited if backflow is detected.

The directive followed an incident on Thursday in Longshan, where three people died after getting trapped in an underground garage while moving their cars.

China's disaster management and strategic reserve authorities said on Saturday that a shipment of relief supplies had been sent to the flood-hit province. The supplies include 81,500 items such as tents, folding beds, quilts and mattresses, according to the National Disaster Reduction Commission, the Ministry of Emergency Management and the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration.

The Chinese Red Cross Society has activated a Level IV emergency response — the lowest in China's four-tier system — sending 5,800 relief items, including towels, waterproof mats, blankets and other essentials to Hunan. By 2 am on Sunday, the first shipment had been loaded and was en route to the affected areas.

Cleanup and reconstruction work was already underway in some counties. Longshan lifted its flood alert at noon on Sunday, and the local government had ordered immediate post-disaster recovery efforts and geological hazard inspections in vulnerable areas.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at liuboqian@chinadaily.com.cn