China’s southern and central provinces brace themselves for flood risk after Typhoon Noul
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Villages surrounded by floodwater, after heavy rainfall from Typhoon Noul, in Wuhua county, Guangdong province, on July 27.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Typhoon Noul's remnants are causing heavy rain and flood risks in southern and central China, affecting provinces like Fujian, Guangdong and Hunan through July 30.
- Authorities have heightened flood-control measures, inspected critical infrastructure and pre-deployed rescue teams to prepare for overlapping typhoon and flood-season dangers.
- North-west and south-west provinces, including Gansu and Sichuan, face landslide and mudslide risks, with Gansu issuing its highest geological disaster warning amid ongoing search efforts for missing people after a mountain collapse in Chongqing.
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BEIJING – The remnants of Typhoon Noul pushed deeper into China on July 28, threatening heavy flooding across a broad swathe of the country’s southern and central provinces as forecasters warned that the weakened storm could linger inland longer than usual.
Torrential rain, fuelled by the effects of the southern monsoon, is expected till July 30 in Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Henan and Guangxi, according to the National Meteorological Centre.
State media warned that the storm’s northward-bound path across mountainous terrain raises the risk of floods, landslides and other disasters before it weakens further.
Noul intensified rapidly before making landfall in Guangdong over the weekend, becoming the strongest typhoon to hit China in 2026, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The authorities are bracing themselves for overlapping typhoon and flood season risks, with emergency and housing officials ordering stronger flood control measures, inspections of critical infrastructure and the pre-deployment of rescue teams and equipment in vulnerable areas.
They also called for safety checks on key industries such as mining, hazardous chemicals and fireworks production.
Typhoons typically affect China from July to September, with August being the most active.
In the north-west and south-west, frequent and heavy precipitation has also put Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan on heightened vigilance.
Gansu issued its highest warning for geological disasters late on July 27, flagging landslide and mudslide risks in numerous parts of the province after rocks and boulders rolled off mountain slopes onto roads.
The Chinese authorities are continuing to search for people missing after part of a mountain broke off and collapsed onto buildings in a hillside township developed along a river in Chongqing on July 17.
At least 38 dead bodies have been found so far. In a notice issued on July 28, the local government in Chongqing’s Pengshui said search efforts had entered the final phase and DNA testing was ongoing. REUTERS
