Video Producer: Mayank Chawla
Video Editor: Vivek Gupta
After Germany, a record-breaking rainfall in China has triggered raging floods. Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday, 21 July, that the severe flood situation has resulted in "significant loss of life and damage to property".
More than 1,00,000 Chinese citizens had to be evacuated from their homes, as photos and video footage circulating on social media platforms showed the extent of the devastation.
In a tragic event, commuters were trapped inside the metro carriage with chest-high water in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province, where water flooded into the underground subway, leading to 12 deaths and five injuries in the city's 'Line Five' during rush hour.
The subway reportedly got flooded between the Shakou Road and Haitan Temple stations around 6 pm on Tuesday, 20 July.
This is said to be the heaviest rainfall that Central China has witnessed in 60 years. According to The Global Times, the maximum precipitation in Zhengzhou reached 201.9 millimeters per hour, breaking the previous record of 198.5 millimeters in 1975.
On Tuesday, the Henan province recorded a high of roughly eight inches of rainfall per hour.
As communication and power lines went down, messages from worried relatives and citizens asking for help, blew up on WeChat and Weibo, two of the country’s primary social networking platforms.
Some videos obtained through these messaging platforms showed floods gushing through submerged roads, while cars were being washed away with the deluge of water.
In another distressing video, a driver whose fate is unknown, is seen seated inside his car as muddy water washed over his car's windshield.
In a separate video, a few men are seen to be rescuing a woman struggling against the current of the water.
The scale of the flood is so disastrous that several dams and reservoirs have also breached warning levels. Reports said the People's Liberation Army has already put out warnings that the downpour has caused a 20-metre breach in the Yihetan dam, which "may collapse at any time" in Luoyang city that has seven million Chinese citizens.
Even hospitals have been impacted by the floods. The city's largest hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, which has over 7,000 beds, has reportedly lost all power supply.
Amid the continuing downpour, the PLA has sent soldiers to carry out emergency response.
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