{"id":60088182,"date":"2025-07-03T16:14:58","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T15:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?post_type=news_digest&p=60088182"},"modified":"2025-07-09T13:42:46","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T12:42:46","slug":"chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods","status":"publish","type":"news_digest","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/","title":{"rendered":"Southwestern Chinese county hit by extreme floods twice in one week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rongjiang county in south-western China\u2019s Guizhou province was struck by two major floods within a week, leaving six people dead and forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first flood peaked on 24 June, with provincial authorities declaring a Level I emergency response, the highest possible. Then on the afternoon of 28 June, another flood struck, sweeping through nearly half of Rongjiang’s county seat, the town of Guzhou, in one hour, a witness told<\/a> Yangcheng Evening News. The floods forced nearly 42,000 residents to flee, mostly in Guzhou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rongjiang county is located near the confluence of three rivers \u2013 the Pingyong, Zhaihao and Duliu \u2013 making it relatively flood-prone, CCTV noted<\/a>. The broadcaster added that Rongjiang\u2019s dikes had been able to shield Guzhou\u2019s urban area during previous floods, but this year\u2019s rainfall proved too much. Starting 18 June, the county experienced six consecutive days of heavy-to-torrential rain \u2013 equivalent to half a year of rainfall in one week, The Paper reported<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts say the disasters expose the lack of extreme weather preparedness among China\u2019s smaller cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large and medium cities have progressively managed floods and water drainage through capacity upgrades, the development of \u201csponge cities\u201d using green flood-prevention infrastructure, and urban renewal projects, flood control expert Hou Jingming, a professor at Xi\u2019an University of Technology, told<\/a> Sanlian Life Weekly. He also noted that county-level flood management capabilities require significant improvement, with poor drainage network planning, along with low accuracy and lateness of flood forecasts giving emergency personnel little time to prepare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent research<\/a> from Beijing Normal University\u2019s School of National Security and Emergency Management found that poorer counties in China face significantly higher odds of experiencing record-breaking extreme weather events. The authors recommend that authorities urgently strengthen disaster resilience infrastructure and mechanisms.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors also note that economically disadvantaged counties in western China will be more likely to face threats of high temperatures and drought, and should accelerate reservoir construction and improve irrigation and soil conservation to enhance drought resistance among crops. Meanwhile, the research finds that poorer counties in the east, which face a higher risk of compound flooding and heatwaves, should focus on improving flood defences and capabilities for handling torrential rain and flooding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Dialogue Earth\u2019s previous <\/em>analysis<\/em><\/a> of how China\u2019s northern floods show a need for a climate adaptation strategy.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rongjiang county in Guizhou province was struck by two major floods within a week, leaving six people dead and forcing 42,000 residents to evacuate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":60006649,"template":"","categories":[761,764],"tags":[519,580],"country":[20000110],"digest-collection":[50039911],"class_list":["post-60088182","news_digest","type-news_digest","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","category-nature","tag-climate-impacts","tag-policy","country-china"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSouthwestern Chinese county hit by extreme floods twice in one week | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rongjiang county in Guizhou province was struck by two major floods within a week, leaving six people dead and forcing 42,000 residents to evacuate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Southwestern Chinese county hit by extreme floods twice in one week\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rongjiang county in Guizhou province was struck by two major floods within a week, leaving six people dead and forcing 42,000 residents to evacuate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-09T12:42:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/China-news-digest_THUMBNAIL_Alamy_2EKJEG3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"784\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/\",\"name\":\"Southwestern Chinese county hit by extreme floods twice in one week | Dialogue Earth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/China-news-digest_THUMBNAIL_Alamy_2EKJEG3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-03T15:14:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-09T12:42:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"Rongjiang county in Guizhou province was struck by two major floods within a week, leaving six people dead and forcing 42,000 residents to evacuate\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/China-news-digest_THUMBNAIL_Alamy_2EKJEG3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/China-news-digest_THUMBNAIL_Alamy_2EKJEG3.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":784,\"caption\":\"2EKJEG3 An aerial view of local farmers reaping rice in the terrace as autumn comes, Changchun village, Shazhenxi town, Zigui county, Yichang city, central China's Hubei province, 12 September 2020.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Southwestern Chinese county hit by extreme floods twice in one week\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Southwestern Chinese county hit by extreme floods twice in one week | Dialogue Earth","description":"Rongjiang county in Guizhou province was struck by two major floods within a week, leaving six people dead and forcing 42,000 residents to evacuate","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Southwestern Chinese county hit by extreme floods twice in one week","og_description":"Rongjiang county in Guizhou province was struck by two major floods within a week, leaving six people dead and forcing 42,000 residents to evacuate","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_modified_time":"2025-07-09T12:42:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":784,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/China-news-digest_THUMBNAIL_Alamy_2EKJEG3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/","name":"Southwestern Chinese county hit by extreme floods twice in one week | Dialogue Earth","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/China-news-digest_THUMBNAIL_Alamy_2EKJEG3.jpg","datePublished":"2025-07-03T15:14:58+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-09T12:42:46+00:00","description":"Rongjiang county in Guizhou province was struck by two major floods within a week, leaving six people dead and forcing 42,000 residents to evacuate","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/China-news-digest_THUMBNAIL_Alamy_2EKJEG3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/China-news-digest_THUMBNAIL_Alamy_2EKJEG3.jpg","width":1200,"height":784,"caption":"2EKJEG3 An aerial view of local farmers reaping rice in the terrace as autumn comes, Changchun village, Shazhenxi town, Zigui county, Yichang city, central China's Hubei province, 12 September 2020."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-vulnerable-county-towns-hit-by-extreme-floods\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Southwestern Chinese county hit by extreme floods twice in one week"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_digest\/60088182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_digest"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news_digest"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_digest\/60088182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60089192,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_digest\/60088182\/revisions\/60089192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60006649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60088182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60088182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60088182"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=60088182"},{"taxonomy":"digest-collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/digest-collection?post=60088182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}