39 dead in southern China flooding after Tropical Storm Maysak

Flooding from Tropical Storm Maysak killed 39 people in southern China, with 26 deaths in Hengzhou after a reservoir dam partially collapsed and sent torrents of water into the city. Ding Wei, the vice mayor of Nanning, which has jurisdiction over the area, put the toll at 39, up from six deaths previously announced.

Nine people were still missing across Guangxi as heavy rain continued. Rain began falling on Saturday, July 5, and the China National Meteorological Centre said some parts of southern Guangxi received 10 to 40 centimeters of rain, while the hardest-hit areas received more than 90 centimeters.

About 130,000 people were evacuated, and rescuers used about 5,700 boats in operations that also pulled more than 10,000 trapped students and teachers out of a cluster of schools in Guigang city, about 60 kilometers northeast of Hengzhou. As floodwaters receded, crews were clearing mud and debris, disinfecting hard-hit towns, repairing roads and restoring power.

Electricity had been returned to more than 60,000 homes, but more rain was still expected in some areas.

Typhoon Bavi was moving toward Taiwan and China’s east coast and could pass just north of Taiwan and make landfall in Zhejiang or Fujian province on Saturday, July 11. Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said Bavi still had maximum sustained winds of 184 kph after being downgraded from super-typhoon strength, and warned it could dump up to one meter of rain on mountains north of Taipei.

In Taiwan, fishing boats crowded into ports for shelter and about 29,000 soldiers were placed on standby.