Beijing, June 29 — Torrential rains returned to Rongjiang, a riverside city in China's southwestern Guizhou province, on Saturday, plunging the flood-battered city into crisis for the second time in a week. The deluge prompted authorities to raise the city’s flood emergency response to its highest level and evacuate tens of thousands of residents to higher ground.
Home to approximately 300,000 people and situated at the convergence of three rivers, Rongjiang was already reeling from record-breaking rainfall earlier in the week that killed six people and forced over 80,000 residents to evacuate. Meteorological data shows the city received twice its average monthly rainfall for June within just 72 hours.
The new wave of flooding has compounded the devastation. By 6:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, more than 40,000 additional residents had been urgently relocated, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
River Levels Exceed Safety Thresholds
Hydrological authorities issued critical warnings as floodwaters surged past safety thresholds. One of the city's benchmark hydrological stations predicted that river levels would peak at 253.50 metres (832 feet) around 5:00 p.m. local time, exceeding the danger mark by two metres. Earlier this week, floodwaters had crested at 256.7 metres, marking the highest water level recorded since 1954, according to a statement from the Guizhou provincial government.
Officials have attributed the severity of the disaster to "extreme climate conditions," as the region battles increasingly volatile weather patterns believed to be linked to climate change.
Economic and Social Impact
The flooding is expected to take a serious toll on local economies in southwest China, already challenged by previous bouts of extreme weather. Rongjiang, removed from China’s national poverty list in 2020, had recently experienced an unexpected surge in tourism, driven in part by the popularity of a grassroots soccer tournament dubbed the “Village Super League”. The tournament went viral on social media, drawing thousands of visitors. This week, the soccer field that hosted the matches was reported to be submerged under seven metres of water.
The broader region is also under strain. The Ministry of Water Resources reported on Saturday that 13 major rivers across Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hainan have risen above warning levels following continuous rainfall over the past 48 hours.
Climate Warning
China has long faced the threat of seasonal summer flooding, but experts now warn that climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of such events. Government officials have cautioned that increasingly unpredictable “black swan” disasters—such as dam failures and infrastructural collapse—could have catastrophic consequences if left unchecked.
As emergency crews continue rescue and relief efforts in Rongjiang and across southern China, the crisis stands as a stark reminder of the mounting environmental and human costs of extreme weather in the world’s most populous nation.
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