Screenshot of a video by CCTV News on the site. On August 7, central parts of Northwest China’s Gansu Province including cities of Lanzhou, Linxia, and Baiyin, experience heavy rainfall.

Since Thursday, Yuzhong county in Lanzhou and other areas in Northwest China’s Gansu Province, have experienced continuous heavy rainfall, leading to mountain flood disasters. As of 3:30 pm on Friday, there have been 10 people confirmed dead and another 33 people missing, according to CCTV News on Friday.

On Thursday night, central parts of Gansu Province including cities of Lanzhou, Linxia, and Baiyin, experienced heavy rainfall. In Yuzhong county, Lanzhou, the heavy rain triggered mountain floods, resulting in mud accumulation on the roads and leaving people stranded, with rescue operations currently underway, according to another CCTV News report on Friday.

The intense rainfall also damaged power and communication services in the Xinglong mountain area, stranding over 4,000 people across four villages and more than 1,300 households. Personnel from local transportation, emergency firefighting, power, communication, and medical departments are on-site conducting repairs and rescue operations, according to the report.

Starting around 6 pm on Thursday, Yuzhong county faced short bursts of intense rainfall, with the Xinglong mountain area reaching torrential rain levels. By 6 am on Friday, the estimated maximum rainfall in the Xinglong mountain area reached 195 millimeters, according to Lanzhou local authorities.

At 1 am on Friday, the Lanzhou emergency management bureau, Lanzhou water affairs bureau, and Lanzhou meteorological bureau jointly issued a red (Level 1) alert for middle- and small-river floods and mountain flood meteorological risks, said the report.

The short-duration heavy rainfall had caused mountain floods, which carried a large amount of mud and debris onto the roads, with mud accumulation exceeding 5 centimeters, obstructing vehicle passage, according to the report.

According to local authorities, the Gansu provincial water resources authorities have decided to initiate a Level III emergency response for flood prevention in some cities (prefectures) including Lanzhou starting from 2 am on Friday.


Global Times