Heavy flooding triggered by torrential downpours has forced the evacuation of more than 200 residents in the southern Chinese city of Qinzhou, state media reported on Tuesday. The city, located in the Guangxi region, experienced significant disruption as cars were submerged and homes inundated.
Official news agency Xinhua detailed how rescue crews deployed inflatable boats to relocate individuals trapped inside their homes. Video footage showed rescuers wading through chest-high water, with firefighters carrying elderly residents to safety.
Qinzhou authorities said the city's meteorological station recorded rainfall of over 270 millimetres (about 10 inches) during a 24-hour period ending at 8 a.m. on Monday, the highest amount recorded there on a single day in April. Meteorological analyst Lin Nan noted that such intense rainfall in South China’s coastal regions typically occurs only after the arrival of the summer monsoon in mid to late May, making the late April downpour rare.
On Tuesday morning, schools across the city resumed classes and traffic ran normally in most places, according to a news outlet operated by Chinese emergency management authorities.
The floods come amid a series of extreme weather events in China. In August last year, disasters killed at least 122 people and caused nearly £2.2bn in economic losses, underscoring the growing toll of the 2025 monsoon season. The Ministry of Emergency Management said more than 10 million people were affected by flash floods and droughts, with direct economic losses reaching 19.6bn yuan (£2.03bn).
