China Issues Highest Flood Red Alerts as Typhoon Maysak Hits

Southern China is facing a catastrophic flood crisis as Guangxi and Guangdong provinces issued their highest-level red alerts on July 7, 2026, following days of torrential rainfall brought by Typhoon Maysak. The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Hydrological Center upgraded its warning to a Flood Red Alert at 07:00 local time, reporting that 55 rivers across 70 monitoring stations had exceeded warning levels by up to 7.46 meters, according to Xinhua News.

Unprecedented River Levels

The hydrological data paints a dire picture. Major waterways including the Yu River, Qian River, Xun River, Xi River, and Fangcheng River are all running dangerously high. Forecasts indicate that the Yu River at Guigang could exceed warning levels by approximately 6.3 meters, while the Xi River at Wuzhou is expected to rise to around 23.5 meters — more than 5 meters above its warning level of 18.5 meters. Cities including Nanning, Guigang, Wuzhou, Qinzhou, Beihai, Fangchenggang, Yulin, and Guilin have been urged to strengthen precautions and evacuate residents from riverside areas.

Guangdong also issued its first Red Flood Alert of the year as the typhoon’s aftermath continued to threaten the densely populated province.

Emergency Funds and Government Response

In response to the escalating crisis, China’s Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Emergency Management on July 6 urgently allocated 160 million yuan (approximately $22 million USD) to support disaster relief across six provinces: Guangxi, Hunan, Liaoning, Jilin, Anhui, and Shandong, as reported by The Paper. The funds are designated for search and rescue operations, evacuation and resettlement of affected populations, hazard elimination, secondary disaster prevention, and repair of damaged homes.

On July 7, President Xi Jinping issued a directive emphasizing all-out rescue operations, medical treatment for the injured, and resettlement of affected populations, according to China News Service. The directive underscores the central government’s prioritization of the disaster response at the highest political level.

Typhoon Maysak: A Perfect Storm

Typhoon Maysak — the 10th named storm of the 2026 Pacific typhoon season and the first to make landfall in China this year — formed on July 3 south of Hainan Island. After crossing land, it moved into the Beibu Gulf (Gulf of Tonkin) and was projected to make a second landfall near the Guangxi-Vietnam border. The combination of the typhoon’s remnants, a northeast cold vortex, and the southwest monsoon created a widespread severe weather system affecting provinces from Liaoning in the northeast to Guangxi in the south.

Dam Infrastructure Under Strain

On July 6, the Liulan Reservoir in Hengzhou, Guangxi, developed a visible gap in its dam wall through which water was gushing. Social media videos sparked fears of a collapse, but the Hengzhou Emergency Management Bureau clarified that it was not a collapse and that emergency handling was underway, as The Paper reported. The incident highlights the extreme pressure on water infrastructure during this unprecedented flooding event. Multiple other reservoirs in the region have also reported distress, with authorities scrambling to reinforce vulnerable structures.

Broader Disaster Context

The flooding in southern China is part of a wider pattern of extreme weather across the country in early July 2026. Hubei province experienced severe convective storms that left at least eight dead and one missing, while two tornadoes struck Guangzhou on July 6. China has fully entered its main flood season (主汛期), which typically runs from June to August, and authorities have described the current flood prevention challenges as “complex and severe.”

What to Watch For

With heavy rainfall continuing to threaten the region, the immediate priorities remain evacuation, rescue, and reinforcement of vulnerable infrastructure. The full extent of casualties and economic damage has yet to be determined, but with 55 rivers overflowing and multiple reservoir incidents reported, the humanitarian and economic toll is expected to be significant. The coming days will test the resilience of both the region’s infrastructure and its emergency response systems as southern China battles one of its most severe flood events in recent years.