Go Back
  • For Business
  • |
  • Warnings
  • Data Suite
  • Forensics
  • Advertising
  • Superior Accuracy™
Hurricane Erin to fuel dangerous surf, coastal flood risk from Carolinas to New England. Chevron right
Puerto Rico, Leeward Islands brace for Hurricane Erin. Get the details. Chevron right

Columbus, OH

81°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Columbus

Ohio

81°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Columbus, OH Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast® Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

For Business

Warnings

Data Suite

Forensics

Advertising

Superior Accuracy™

Video

Winter Center

AccuWeather Early Hurricane Center Top Stories Trending Today Astronomy Heat Climate Health Recreation In Memoriam Case Studies Blogs & Webinars

News / Severe Weather

Boats plunge over waterfall during extreme flooding

By Mary Gilbert, AccuWeather meteorologist

Updated Jul 14, 2021 5:02 PM EDT

Copied

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.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

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:

Lightning blamed for more than 30 deaths in India
Forecasters monitoring tropical Atlantic in wake of Elsa
Mysterious mansion ruins on beach captivate onlookers
The hidden dangers of heat waves

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

Report a Typo
Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.
Comments
Hide Comments

Weather News

Weather Forecasts

Rare August rainstorm targets Northwest during summer ‘dry season’

Aug. 15, 2025
Weather News

Quick-jumping bugs are emerging again, here's how to stomp them out

Aug. 13, 2025
Weather Forecasts

Fall forecast 2025: Warmth to fuel fires, storms before chill hits US

Aug. 10, 2025
video

How lightning triggers wildfires

Aug. 5, 2025
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

AccuWeather Early

Hurricane Center

Top Stories

Trending Today

Astronomy

Heat

Climate

Health

Recreation

In Memoriam

Case Studies

Blogs & Webinars

Top Stories

Hurricane

Erin intensifies into hurricane as it tracks near Puerto Rico

1 hour ago

Recreation

Man rescued after falling 30 feet down waterfall in Maine

12 hours ago

Severe Weather

Severe storms, flash flooding to pester north-central US

1 hour ago

Weather News

New York skyscraper had 1-in-16 chance of collapse. Only one man knew

14 hours ago

Hurricane

Hurricane safety: Explaining rapid intensification and how to prepare

12 hours ago

More Stories

Featured Stories

Weather News

Heavy rain in Indian Kashmir leaves dozens dead, more than 200 missing

15 hours ago

Weather News

Pompeii’s remains reveal a hidden postscript

14 hours ago

Astronomy

Goodbye long days: Where sunset is now happening before 8 pm

12 hours ago

Weather News

US teen pilot accused of unauthorized Antarctic landing reaches deal

1 day ago

Weather News

New York skyscraper had 1-in-16 chance of collapse. Only one man knew

14 hours ago

AccuWeather Severe Weather Boats plunge over waterfall during extreme flooding
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy™ About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy™ About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2025 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | About Your Privacy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

...

...

...