China Issues High Flood Alert for North and Western Regions, Rongjiang Reveals Human Cost

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Jul 6, 2025 - 09:53 Updated: Jul 5, 2025 - 19:20
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China Issues High Flood Alert for North and Western Regions, Rongjiang Reveals Human Cost
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China’s northern and western regions grappled with heavy rains after floods devastated central and southern China, causing landslides and mass displacements in their wake.

Red alerts for intense rainstorms issued by China’s national weather bureau early on July 4 covered provinces ranging from Sichuan in the southwest to Liaoning in the north. In China’s four-tier weather warning systems, the red represents the most severe one.

The “Plum Rain” season—a period of high rainfall that coincides with plum ripening—witnessed a record downpour that swamped Henan, Hubei, and Guizhou since last week.

Despite annual floods being a common occurrence in southern China, the disaster level in recent days has reached an all-time high in decades. Rongjiang, a small town in southwestern China where three rivers meet, was submerged again on June 28, less than a week after being hit by a flood on a scale that ֻChinese state media described as unprecedented in more than 50 years.
Twin flood waves have left Rongjiang buried in mud and wreckage, killing at least six people, driving more than 120,000 residents from their homes, and submerging 80 percent of the county, according to state media. The first surge of the river on June 21 burst its banks, which collapsed sections of a highway.

From June 24 to 28, a fresh bout of rain re-flooded the town center; water reached the third floor of riverside buildings and inundated Changba Street, the main commercial strip.

Jiang Hao (pseudonym), a 40-year-old tobacco and alcohol shopkeeper with his family of four, recounted the harrowing experience in a recent interview with the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times. Around 9 a.m. local time, on June 24, he noticed flood waters rising rapidly outside his store. He attempted to move goods upstairs to avoid being spoiled, but soon realized it was too late. He grabbed important documents and evacuated with his family.

Commenting on the flood, Hao said, “It rose very quickly, I saw with my own eyes that a car seven or eight meters [22–23 feet] ahead of me was wobbling. Five or six minutes later, more than half of its tires were submerged.”

Hao said his family stayed in their vehicle overnight. He said that some people sought refuge on high ground, and others camped in nearby Middle Schools. After the waters receded the next day, he sent his mother and son to his sister’s home and relocated his car near the high-speed rail station.

Even after the initial flood, Hao could not return home as private vehicles were barred from entering the county. The river surged a second time on June 28, and he was finally able to return home two days later.

“The loss is incalculable—at least tens of billions. All the physical stores were washed away. The largest supermarket in Rongjiang likely lost at least 15 million yuan [$2 million],” he said.

Hao said that he estimates his personal losses to be in the thousands of dollars. He said his three-story home is now considered structurally unsafe, and future government support is not certain.

While officially the authorities list six fatalities, Hao said locals believe the real figures are higher—13 dead and 2 missing. He added that a person who tried to spread information about the death toll was detained, which deterred further speculation about it for now.  The Epoch Times can’t independently verify his claims. The Chinese Communist Party often tightly controls information about disasters and tragic incidents, and has a record of underreporting deaths.
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