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News / Severe Weather

Boats plunge over waterfall during extreme flooding

By Mary Gilbert, AccuWeather meteorologist

Updated Jul 14, 2021 12:02 PM EST

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Torrential rainfall unleashed extreme flooding in multiple provinces of China over the past weekend. Videos showed boats plunging over a waterfall, people clinging to trees, and rescuing others.

AccuWeather meteorologists say an area of low pressure is partially to blame for these dramatic flooding scenes.

"An area of low pressure developed across central China and tracked northeastward across the region over the weekend," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said. "This low helped to enhance rainfall along its path."

Robust thunderstorms developed rapidly on Sunday in Sichuan Province, located in southwestern China, and quickly let loose 4-6 inches (100-150 mm) in rain, according to Douty.

NASA estimates that as much as 18 inches of rain (457 mm) have fallen in localized parts of China during the last week.

China 7-Day Rainfall 7/13

NASA Global Precipitation Measurement shows over 18 inches of rain in China for the week prior to July 13, 2021

NASA/GPM

Some unfortunate vessels were caught up in a tumultuous river in the city of Bazhong, located in the northeastern portion of the province. Dramatic video captured from the shore showed passenger ferries, cruise ships and speed boats carried quickly downstream. These vessels encountered a dramatic drop-off and were flung into roiling rapids. No one was injured in this particular incident, according to eyewitness reports.

Thousands were forced to evacuate in Sichuan, Reuters reported. More than 120,000 have reportedly been affected while the floods have caused about $27 million (176 million yuan) in damage.

China Flooding GIF

Boats float downstream and over a waterfall on a raging river in the city of Bazhong. (Newsflare)

AccuWeather

Hebei, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong provinces in eastern China were also struck by heavy storms which turned rivers into raging rapids in the blink of an eye.

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The city of Handan in the southern portion of Hebei Province was delivered a particularly potent batch of rainfall. There, heavy rainfall triggered a rapid rush of floodwater down a city street. Another dramatic video showed a man desperately clinging to a tree in order to avoid being swept away by the sudden floods.

China Handan Flooding 7/11

In the city of Handan in Hebei Province on July 11, rapid floodwater rushed down a street and a man held a tree to avoid being washed away. (Newsflare)

Newsflare

Satellite imagery shows the storms that impacted parts of eastern China exhibited an effect known as training.

Training describes a phenomenon when thunderstorms repeatedly build back over the same locations that have already been impacted by storms. It's akin to multiple cars of a freight train passing over the same section of track, one after the other. Rainfall totals quickly skyrocket for locations trapped under training thunderstorms.

Additional heavy rain is not out of the question this week for locations that have already dealt with flash flooding. However, AccuWeather forecasters say the opportunities for the heaviest rainfall will likely be localized in nature, rather than widespread.

According to the AccuWeather severe weather advisories map, various advisories were issued for Beijing and areas to the northeast on Monday night.

Severe Warnings China 7/12

The above map shows red warnings for rainstorms, the most severe level on China's four-tier warning system, in effect for parts of the country on Monday, July 12, 2021. A yellow warning for rainstorms, the third-highest threat level, was in place around the Beijing region.

AccuWeather

Rainfall was not as heavy in and around Beijing on Monday, though 3-4 inches (75-100 mm) were still reported in parts of the region.

SEE ALSO:

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Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.

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