Floods in Southern China and the Risks of Stronger Storm Seasons

On 7 July 2026, severe flooding across southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and nearby provinces turned a seasonal weather emergency into a national disaster. Heavy rain, landslides, tornadoes, and reservoir failures killed dozens of people and forced emergency teams to rescue residents trapped by fast-rising water. 

In Hengzhou, a city under Nanning’s jurisdiction, floodwaters breached local reservoirs and pushed torrents of water into villages, while officials later confirmed that 26 of the 39 reported deaths occurred there. 

President Xi Jinping ordered “all-out” emergency rescue and relief efforts, medical treatment for the injured and resettlement for affected residents, while calling on local governments to “tighten accountability for disaster prevention and relief.” 

The disaster also released hundreds of farmed snakes into residential areas, creating a rare public-health risk during an already complex rescue operation.

The storm system behind much of the destruction was Typhoon Maysak, which made landfall on China’s southernmost island province of Hainan before sweeping into Guangxi and leaving record rainfall behind it. 

Maysak’s remnants also helped produce rare inland tornadoes in central China, including one in Hubei province with wind speeds of about 4 meters per second, or 131 feet per second. 

Meteorologist Wang Xiaoling said the tornado formed when Maysak’s remnants met a local rainstorm and cold air from the northeast, creating strong vertical winds. 

Maysak’s damage came just before China prepared for another storm, Super Typhoon Bavi, which measured more than 1,000 kilometers wide and had produced winds above 290 kilometers per hour over the western Pacific island of Rota. Together, the storms suggested that China’s 2026 flood season was becoming unusually dangerous before July had even fully unfolded.

In Guangxi, authorities upgraded the flood alert to red, the highest level in China’s four-tier warning system, at midnight on Monday, 6 July. 

By Tuesday afternoon, 62 rivers across China had risen above flood-warning levels, and the Qingshui River in Guangxi recorded the largest flood in its monitoring history. 

In Guangdong, officials issued the first flooding red alert for parts of the West River in Zhaoqing, where water levels were expected to rise to 22 meters by Wednesday morning. 

The national meteorological center said rainfall reached 4 to 16 inches in some areas, while the hardest-hit places received more than 35 inches. 

In Guangxi, at least 50,000 people were evacuated after reservoirs overtopped or breached, and six people remained missing according to earlier reports. 

By Thursday, authorities said about 130,000 people had been evacuated, while drones and around 5,700 boats supported rescue operations across flooded areas. 

In Guigang, rescue teams worked to bring out more than 10,000 trapped students and teachers from a group of schools. 

On Chinese social media, one post asked for help for pregnant women trapped in a hospital in eastern Guangxi, while another from Binyang county said residents had lost water, electricity, and food after receiving what it described as six months of rain within 24 hours. “We hope that help can arrive soon,” the post said, “I pray for my hometown.”

The flooding also created an unusual emergency in Hengzhou, where floodwaters damaged snake-breeding farms and allowed hundreds of reptiles to escape. 

Early reports said about 900 snakes had escaped from one collapsed farm, while local media later identified escaped species including water snakes, king ratsnake,s and cobras. 

A villager treated in hospital after a cobra bite told Beijing News, “Hundreds of snakes escaped all at once. I’ve seen five or six.” The Hangzhou Media Convergence Center warned that venomous snakes, including cobras and green pit vipers, could shelter in homes, stairwells, building corners, and riverbanks. 

Local authorities increased anti-venom supplies and opened a fast-track treatment channel at Hengzhou People’s Hospital, the designated snake bite center. 

In Gansu province, a landslide buried 33 people in Longnan after heavy rain, and later reports said 21 people died there. In Hubei, thunderstorms and tornadoes killed at least 11 people, injured 173 in Huanggang, and forced 269 residents to evacuate to hotels or relatives’ homes. 

More than 3,500 rescuers were deployed across Hubei to provide relief, while authorities maintained 117 rainstorm and strong-wind alerts on Tuesday morning. Even Jilin province in northeast China issued alerts for several days of rain and strong winds, with flooding risks along the Songhua, Dongliao, and Yalu rivers.

The wider significance lies in what scientists expect next. Liu Changjun, director of the Research Institute of Flood Control and Drought Disaster Reduction, said China must shift “from flood control based on historical experience to flood control based on extreme scenario planning.” 

Reuters reported that China’s National Climate Center expects up to six typhoons to form in the Northwest Pacific and South China Sea in July, compared with an average of 3.8. 

It also expects up to three storms to make landfall, above the usual 1.8, with stronger cyclone intensity. Benjamin Horton of City University of Hong Kong warned, “The problem with these events is that they’re just increasing,” and said repeated storms leave “no time to recover and become resilient.” 

Hui Su of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology said, “The severe impacts of Maysak and the looming threat of Super Typhoon Bavi indicate that the 2026 season is more intense and damaging than a typical year.” 

He added that “El Niño is shifting typhoon tracks westward toward China’s coast and heightening risks, while climate change makes storms wetter and more destructive.”