Zürcher Nachrichten - Rescuers search for missing in China storms after 100,000 flee

Extreme weather has wreaked havoc on the country's south and centre this week, with a super typhoon heading towards eastern provinces this weekend.

In the southern region of Guangxi, six people died and at least 130,000 people were moved to safety after torrential rain and severe flooding from Typhoon Maysak, regional officials said, warning rain would continue to fall there and in neighbouring Guangdong province on Wednesday.

Fast-flowing muddy water burst the banks of 40 rivers and waterways in Guangxi, damaging nearly 13,000 acres of agricultural land, state media reported.

One hotel employee in the city of Guigang told AFP that over the past two days, the water level had risen to the height of a one-storey house, and that residents had to evacuate to hotels or to relatives' houses elsewhere.

While the water had receded now, they said, there was still over a metre of standing water in low-lying places like underpasses.

Videos published by state broadcaster CCTV showed torrents of water rushing past the crumbled concrete walls of a reservoir dam that had burst, while rescue workers wearing life vests were deployed on inflatable boats.

Chinese authorities were sending additional disaster relief like food, raincoats and rubber boats to the region, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

Authorities in Guangxi have maintained the second-highest level for flood-control emergency response, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Flood peaks "exceeding the warning water level" by more than six metres (20 feet) are expected at the Wuzhou Hydrological Station in Guangxi early Thursday, Minister of Water Resources Li Guoying said.

"Due to the impact of persistent heavy rainfall and the prolonged passage of floodwaters at high levels, the safety of reservoirs and embankments in the affected areas faces a severe test," he added.

In the central province of Hubei, thunderstorms and gale-force winds have killed 11 people and injured 331, and tornadoes were reported elsewhere late on Monday, Xinhua said.

One person is missing in Hubei, Xinhua said, adding that 4,800 houses were damaged and 22 more had collapsed.

China's President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that rescuers should "go all out" in organising emergency operations, CCTV reported.

- Typhoon 'combat readiness' -

Eastern provinces are meanwhile preparing for the impact of Super Typhoon Bavi, which could make landfall "near the Zhejiang-Fujian border area" between Saturday and Sunday, said Xiang Chunyi, Chief Typhoon Forecaster at the National Meteorological Center.

"Alternatively, it may move northward in the waters east of Taiwan and make landfall directly on the coast of Zhejiang," Xiang told CCTV.

Taiwan, Zhejiang and Fujian will be the first to experience heavy rainfall, she added.

Bavi earlier this week tore through the US Pacific territories, leaving tens of thousands of people without power Tuesday on Guam and the Northern Marianas.

"Bavi is characterised by high intensity and substantial energy, and it has maintained super typhoon status for a prolonged period," Xiang said.

The Party Secretary of Zhejiang's Hangzhou city, Liu Fei, urged officials to shift into a "state of combat readiness" to prepare for Bavi's arrival.

Jiangsu province, also in China's eastern region, said it would suspend "all in-person educational activities" at schools from Thursday afternoon through Friday and urged students and teachers to "pay attention to typhoon safety".

Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer when some regions experience intense rainfall while others bake in scorching heat.

But scientists warn the intensity and frequency of global extreme weather events will increase as the planet continues to heat up because of fossil fuel emissions.

- Landslide -

Separately in northwestern China's Gansu province, the death toll from a landslide rose to 21, state media reported Wednesday, a day after it buried 33 people.

Rescue teams had rushed to the site of the landslide, which occurred at around 6:56 am on Tuesday (2256 GMT Monday) at Rencang village in Dangchang County, Xinhua said.

"Search and rescue operations at the site of the landslide in Dangchang County have concluded; the landslide resulted in 21 fatalities," Xinhua said on Wednesday, citing local authorities.

The cause of the landslide was still under investigation, according to local media.

Authorities have set aside 30 million yuan ($4.4 million) in reconstruction funds following the landslide.

I.Widmer--NZN