Over 80,000 evacuated amid serious flooding in SW China

GUIYANG -- Continuous heavy rainfall and upstream inflows have triggered severe flooding in two counties of Guizhou province in Southwest China, prompting mass evacuations.

As of 2:30 pm Tuesday, 48,900 residents were temporarily evacuated in Rongjiang county and 32,000 in Congjiang county. The flood control emergency response has been escalated to Level I, the highest, in both counties.

Rongjiang, a county known for Cun Chao -- a rural football league covering over 100 village teams and drawing numerous fans across the country, saw heavy rainstorms from 8 pm Monday, with a venue at the Duliu River exceeding the warning level by 6.68 meters as of 2 pm Tuesday.

The football field at the Cun Chao stadium was submerged under three meters of water.

Long Tian, a resident near the stadium, recalled that when he woke up at 8 am Tuesday, the water downstairs was already thigh-deep.

"The water rose very quickly, so I stayed on the third floor waiting for rescue. By the afternoon, I had been transferred to safety," Long said.

Rescue teams, including firefighters and volunteers, deployed boats and other equipment for the rescue work in the two counties.

As of 4 pm Tuesday, the provincial emergency department had allocated disaster relief items, including 30,000 bottles of drinking water and 10,000 bowls of instant noodles, to the two counties via high-speed rail and road transport.

Also in Guizhou, rain-triggered landslides caused the collapse of part of a bridge on an expressway in the county of Sandu. No casualties have been reported so far.