China's Nanning on top alert as Typhoon Maysak triggers catastrophic flooding
Maysak made landfall in the southern island province of Hainan last Friday (Jul 3), the first tropical cyclone to reach the Chinese mainland this year.
· CNA · JoinRead a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
BEIJING: Nanning, capital of China's southwestern Guangxi region, raised its flood control response to the highest level as rivers and reservoirs swelled with the passage of Typhoon Maysak, Chinese state media said on Monday (Jul 6).
Now a slower-moving tropical storm, Maysak no longer has the winds of more than 80.5kmh that lashed Vietnam and China's southern island province of Hainan over the weekend.
But as the storm heads inland and weakens, it will dump the water it sucked up on its way across the South China Sea, triggering catastrophic flooding, Chinese meteorologists say.
Authorities in Nanning, a city of nearly 9 million people, raised the flood control emergency response level to I from III due to "extremely heavy rain", China Central Television (CCTV) reported.
CNA Games
Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time
Buzzword
Create words using the given letters
Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser
Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge
Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
Show More
Show Less
So far, one breach has been reported at a medium-sized reservoir in Nanning's Hengzhou, and people in the area were being evacuated, state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing local authorities.
Some 273.6km away in the city of Guigang, floodwaters turned a wide road into a lake, submerging cars and cascading in brown torrents down a hill into a building site, a video posted on the Chinese social media platform Douyin and verified by Reuters showed.
The water level at Guigang Hydrological Station had risen to 42m by 12.30pm, the Ministry of Water Resources said in a statement.
Further south in Fangchenggang, another verified video showed a small car being washed down a street. In the same footage, the water rose to the level of another car's steering wheel, and a man could be seen struggling to keep his electric scooter from being swept away.
EXTREME WEATHER RISKS
China, the world's second-largest economy, faces growing threats from extreme weather, which meteorologists link to climate change.
Analysts say weather-related risks each year stand to wipe out tens of billions of dollars worth of commercial activity, as cities flood, industrial activity stalls, and crops are submerged or washed away.
Maysak made landfall in the southern island province of Hainan last Friday, the first tropical cyclone to reach the Chinese mainland this year.
The storm made its second landfall on Sunday in Vietnam, which shares a border with Guangxi.
In the Vietnamese border town of Mong Cai, the storm brought down trees and ripped metal roofs from buildings, state media reported, as it made its way into China.
Heavy rainfall is expected across Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan and other areas in the coming days, according to Chinese meteorologists.
The three provinces alone are home to over 150 million people - more than the population of Russia.
The region is also on alert for Super Typhoon Bavi, which is making its way across the Pacific Ocean towards Taiwan.
The US National Weather Service said it was packing winds of up to 290kmh as it made its way across Guam, Tinian, Saipan and Rota on Monday.
Newsletter
Week in Review
Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review
Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday.
Newsletter
Morning Brief
Subscribe to CNA’s Morning Brief
An automated curation of our top stories to start your day.
Sign up for our newsletters
Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app