Flooding in southwest China: Over 80,000 people evacuated

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, an aerial view show floodwaters from a river overwhelmed towns following days of heavy rain, in Huaiji County, south China’s Guangdong Province on June 19, 2025. (Deng Hua/Xinhua via AP)

BEIJING — More than 80,000 people have had to flee their homes due to severe flooding in China’s southwestern province of Guizhou, Beijing’s state media said on Wednesday.

Rescue teams have been deployed to the two affected counties, where the flood control emergency response has been raised to the highest level, state news agency Xinhua reported.

In one affected county, Rongjiang, a football field was “submerged under three meters of water”, the news agency said.

One resident Long Tian told Xinhua “the water rose very quickly”.

READ: One dead, dozens missing in China landslide

“I stayed on the third floor waiting for rescue. By the afternoon, I had been transferred to safety,” Long said.

Around 80,900 people had left their homes as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Xinhua.

China is enduring a summer of extreme weather.

READ: Mudslides kill 14 in southwest China, 11 missing

This week, authorities issued the second-highest heat warning for the capital Beijing on one of its hottest days of the year so far.

And tens of thousands of people were evacuated last week in the central Chinese province of Hunan due to heavy rain. /dl