Photo: A sudden flash flood triggered by heavy rainfall struck a village in Ya'an in Southwest China's Sichuan caused over 30 people mission, and as of 10 pm on July 20, 2024, 8 bodies have been found, with the identities of 5 victims confirmed. Photo: The Paper

 

Photo: A sudden flash flood triggered by heavy rainfall struck a village in Ya'an in Southwest China's Sichuan caused over 30 people mission, and as of 10 pm on July 20, 2024, 8 bodies have been found, with the identities of 5 victims confirmed. Photo: The Paper

 
A sudden flash flood triggered by heavy rainfall in a village in Ya'an, Southwest China's Sichuan Province has caused at least 8 dead and left over 30 people missing. As of press time, the identities of 5 victims have been confirmed, and a total of 412 impacted residents have been safely relocated, local authorities said.

This flash flood occurred in Xinhua village of Malie township in Hanyuan county. "The flood came too suddenly," Wang Fuchao, former director of the Xinhua village committee, was quoted as saying in media reports.  

"Many people were asleep at the time and couldn't escape ," Wang said. 

Several villagers confirmed that before the flash flood, due to continuous heavy rain, local authorities had organized the relocation of villagers to a nearby abandoned school. However, some people, uncomfortable with the new location, "sneaked back home" and were subsequently caught by the fast moving water.

Located about 40 kilometers from Hanyuan county, the Xinhua village is situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, and is home to thousands of people.

The flash flood disaster occurred around 2:30 am on Saturday. Wang told media that he and his family had relocated to the county town that day, avoiding the risk of flooding.

Some photos taken at the scene showed that the flash flood water levels in front of the village had receded, though muddy yellow river water was still flowing down the mountain. 

The original riverbed had been widened by the flood, with large amounts of alluvial stones along the banks, and many nearby houses were destroyed. 

A double-arch stone bridge not far from the village had its underpass blocked by trees and debris brought down by the flood, causing the upstream water to overflow onto the road and downstream areas.

Zhang Chunguai, another resident from the village, was quoted as saying in media reports that the flash flood also triggered a mudslide that built up over several kilometers

His old house was swept away by floodwaters, and seven of his relatives, including his aunt, cousin, and cousin's husband, were missing, Zhang said. 

In recent years, Zhang has run a breeding farm in the area, raising forest musk deer. According to him, there were over fifty forest musk deer at the farm before the flood, each worth over a hundred thousand yuan. 

"Now with the flood, the loss of the forest musk deer alone amounts to five to six million yuan," Zhang said. Fortunately, caretakers evacuated the farm before the flash flood hit.

"There was continuous heavy rain, with 150 millimeters of precipitation," Zhang said. Before the flash flood occurred, it had been raining heavily for over an hour.

Additionally, from Wednesday to Thursday, Hanyuan county experienced sustained heavy rainfall, causing varying degrees of damage to local roads, electricity, the water supply, and other infrastructure.

On Friday afternoon, Hanyuan county issued consecutive warnings: a blue alert for heavy rain, a yellow alert for geological disasters, and an orange alert for flash flood disasters.

According to villagers Zhang and Wang, before the flash flood occurred in the early hours of July 20, village officials organized the relocation of the village residents, and many were moved to an abandoned school in the village, located several hundred meters away from the river.

Local authorities have deployed a total of 23 teams and over 1,000 rescue personnel, coordinating more than 1,500 units of equipment, including Wing Loong drones, communication drones, long-arm excavators, underwater detectors, emergency mechanized bridges, and emergency communication vehicles. Much of the equipment is being used in the search and rescue of missing persons, verification of key areas, and relocation of affected residents.

Meanwhile, Ya'an city urgently dispatched 500 tents, 3,500 blankets, 3,500 folding beds, 40 emergency lights, and 10 site lighting lamps. Currently, communication and transportation in the disaster area have been largely restored, and power is gradually being restored. Rescue and relief efforts are still ongoing.

Global Times