Rescuers in China race to find missing, seal dykes after devastating floods

BEIJING - Rescuers in China scrambled on Aug 2 to locate dozens of people still missing a week after 2024's most powerful typhoon roared into the southern province of Hunan, while emergency workers rushed to seal breached dykes on swollen rivers.

Even before Typhoon Gaemi hit on July 25, China was roiled by months of extreme weather that pummelled southern provinces with record rain and parched northern regions with heatwaves. Weather officials are warning of more harsh weather in August.

The city of Zixing took the brunt of the typhoon in Hunan, lashed by 673.9mm of rain over 24 hours, or the equivalent of a quarter of its average annual rainfall, local officials told a press conference.

Typhoon Gaemi, the most powerful one to hit China in 2024, has killed 30 residents of the city, with 35 missing, local officials said at a press conference on Aug 2.

"Typhoon Gaemi brought great damage to Zixing," said provincial disaster prevention official Xiao Yingbin. "It was a very serious natural disaster."

Power supply was knocked out in 149 villages and communications cut in 78, while 1,641 houses were destroyed and 1,345 sections of road collapsed, one official said.

About 118,000 residents of Zixing, or a third of its population, have been affected, and about 13,800ha of crops were damaged, the official added.

Rescuers must make every effort to find the missing, restore infrastructure and guard against disasters such as landslides, China's second-most senior official, Premier Li Qiang, urged on Aug 1 during a visit to the city.

Mountainous terrain and dense forests present challenges for the rescuers, officials said, as they have been forced to walk to the hardest-hit areas, cut off by road collapses.

Supplies had to be air-dropped in some places, said local emergency management official Cao Zhongsheng.

Economic impact

Across Hunan province, the rains have affected 1.15 million people, with direct economic losses of 6.13 billion yuan (S$1.1 billion).

Emergency workers rushed this week to seal a breached dyke on the Juanshui River, with two other dyke breaches reported on July 28.

Extreme weather crimped China's factory operations in July while high temperatures and floods hobbled the construction sector, official data showed this week, after July's contraction in manufacturing activity.

July was China's hottest month in modern history, mirroring record high temperatures elsewhere in the world fuelled by climate change.

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More harsh weather is in store for China in August, National Climate Centre deputy head Jia Xiaolong said on Aug 1, with many regions expected to get more rain than in corresponding periods of previous years.

Up to three typhoons could hit China in August, he added.

Drought might hit the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in central China, he added, calling for measures such as cloud seeding to ensure crops grow.

Visiting the central province of Henan this week, Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Guozhong called for efforts to limit damage to farm output from torrential rain and floods, and ensure a bumper autumn harvest.

Henan, known as China's granary, grows about one-third of its wheat.