Ten people are dead and 33 missing after flash floods and mudslides in northwest China’s Gansu province, state media reported Friday, the latest in a series of lethal weather events to hit the country.
Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer, when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered “utmost effort” in rescuing the missing people on Friday, state broadcaster CCTV said.
Due to the “frequent occurrence of extreme weather”, Xi ordered all regions to “resolutely overcome complacency” and strengthen efforts to identify risks, the broadcaster added.
From August 7, “continuous heavy rain” in Gansu triggered flash floods, with the death toll on Friday afternoon standing at 10, CCTV said.
Local authorities had issued the highest-level emergency warning for flash floods overnight.
A video shared by the Communist Party-backed People’s Daily showed more than a dozen rescuers clinging to a rope as they pushed through torrents of mud, while photos posted by Gansu’s government showed roads covered in silt and large stones.
Heavy rains trapped 4,000 people living in the mountainous Xinglong area and pushed garbage into roads, CCTV reported earlier Friday.
Three people were missing after a mudslide in Maliantan village, it said.
Footage shared by Chinese fire authorities on Weibo showed rescuers in Maliantan guiding people through rushing grey water.
Beijing’s top economic planner said it was allocating 100 million yuan (US$14 million) towards disaster relief in Gansu.
Local weather authorities at midday on Friday predicted more rain in some areas, including near the Yellow River — China’s second-biggest waterway.
Southern landslide
The country’s south has also experienced torrential downpours this week.
CCTV reported Friday that all seven people missing after a landslide in Guangdong province had been killed.
Ten of thousands of people were evacuated across Guangdong this week, with heavy rains flooding residential neighbourhoods and shops.
The government has also allocated 100 million yuan toward recovery efforts there, the National Development and Reform Commission said.
Last month, heavy rains in northern Beijing killed 44 people, with the capital’s rural suburbs hit the hardest.
A landslide in a village in Hebei province, which encircles Beijing, killed another eight people.
Scientists warn the intensity and frequency of global extreme weather events will increase as the planet continues to heat up because of fossil fuel emissions.
China is the world’s biggest emitter, but it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon-neutral by 2060.
