Thousands evacuated in northwest China after heavy flooding

More than 25,000 people were evacuated from China’s Shaanxi province in the past 24 hours after heavy rain and flooding damaged roads, bridges, power lines and communications infrastructure, state broadcaster CCTV said. In neighboring Gansu province, more than 4,500 people were moved out of Longnan City after torrential rain triggered a Level II flood-control emergency response and sent rescue crews racing to clear vulnerable areas.

The scale of the evacuations showed how quickly intense rainfall can overwhelm drainage systems and transport links in mountainous inland areas. In Longnan, authorities dispatched 22,000 rescue workers as heavy rain fell across the city and surrounding areas, while inspectors assessed hazards and carried out repairs to damaged infrastructure. CCTV footage showed floodwater eroding roads and crews carrying relief supplies through damaged streets.

Longnan’s roads took a heavy hit. A Reuters-licensed report said heavy rains damaged 3,303 km of roads in the city and disrupted traffic on 497 roads, cutting into the network that residents and emergency crews depend on during fast-moving flood events. Those losses came on top of damage to bridges, power lines and communications systems in Shaanxi, where Chinese authorities also warned that heavy rain would continue.

The evacuations were part of a wider pattern of extreme weather across northwest China this summer. On July 30, heavy rain put the region on high alert for floods and landslides. By August 3, residents were being evacuated as storms hit both northwest and southwest China. China then said on August 4 that it planned to strengthen its ability to prevent and mitigate landslides and floods as it sought to respond better to climate change.

The human toll has already been severe. Flash floods in Gansu killed 25 people and injured 23 more, according to Xinhua on August 2, underscoring how fast water can turn deadly in a region where narrow valleys, steep slopes and saturated ground leave little margin for error. CCTV also said more than 140,000 people had been evacuated in Shaanxi since July 30.

For local governments, the latest flooding is a test of emergency planning, road maintenance and warning systems at a time when repeated weather shocks are forcing repeated mass evacuations. The immediate task is to keep residents out of harm’s way; the harder work will be rebuilding the roads, bridges and communications lines that failing storms have already exposed.