A local police officer helps relocate a resident to safety following severe flooding in the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture on June 24, 2025 in Southwest China's Guizhou Province. Photo: VCG

The persistent heavy rainfall in the southern and southeastern parts of Southwest China's Guizhou Province since Monday has caused a once-in-30-years flood and a highway bridge collapse in the province on Tuesday.

According to Guizhou fire rescue department, a once-in-30-years flood hit Rongjiang County in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, submerging many low-lying areas in the early hours of Tuesday as rivers swelled rapidly due to torrential rain and upstream inflow.

Flood control authorities in Rongjiang and Congjiang raised emergency response levels from Level II to Level I starting at 12:00 pm and 10:40 am on Tuesday, respectively.

Rongjiang flood control authorities issued a notice of urgent evacuation on Tuesday morning, listing multiple at-risk areas on a map and instructing residents to relocate to designated shelters or higher ground by 9 am.

Videos by local residents in Rongjiang showed that the flood submerged the field of Cunchao, or the Village Super League, within 10 minutes, Jimu News reported. Yang Yajiang, the vice chairman of the Rongjiang County Football Association, said the water inside the football field is more than one meter deep and the matches at the weekend have been canceled or postponed. 

Guizhou Radio and Television Station reported that Rongjiang's largest shopping mall was submerged by floodwaters. 

The Global Times learned from the Emergency Management Bureau of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture at around 5pm on Tuesday that the rain had stopped in Rongjiang and flooding had not worsened at present. However, due to intermittent phone and internet signals in the affected areas, the latest rescue data has not yet been compiled.

According to Guizhou fire rescue department, the fire rescue detachment of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture dispatched 34 vehicles and 150 personnel to four flood-hit areas in Rongjiang and Congjiang, arriving at 5:35 am Tuesday. 

In addition to flooding in Rongjiang, the heavy rain has also triggered a landslide, resulting in the collapse of a bridge on the G76 Xiarong expressway within Sandu County in Guizhou's Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture on Tuesday morning.

At the time of the collapse, one truck was on the bridge, the driver was rescued safely. Under the bridge, there were three vehicles belonging to a nearby village construction site and drone surveillance has confirmed that there were no people inside those vehicles. No casualties were reported at the scene.

Meteorological monitoring data showed that since Monday, the southern and southeastern regions of Guizhou have experienced torrential rains, with some townships experiencing extreme torrential downpours. The Guizhou Provincial Meteorological Observatory warned that from Tuesday night to Friday, Guizhou will experience another round of heavy rainfall. Coupled with the impact of previous rain, there is a high risk of secondary disasters such as river floods, flash floods, geological disasters, and waterlogging.