Guangxi Floods Kill 39, Over 5,000 Students Rescued
Severe flooding in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has claimed at least 39 lives and left 9 people missing, while a dramatic rescue operation successfully evacuated over 5,000 students trapped by rising floodwaters, authorities confirmed on July 9. The disaster, triggered by Typhoon Maysak and exacerbated by multiple reservoir failures, has forced the evacuation of more than 64,500 people across the region.
The Scale of the Disaster
The death toll was announced during a press conference in Nanning, the regional capital, on the morning of July 9. Officials noted that some deceased and missing persons may overlap as identity verification is ongoing, according to The Paper. The Liulan Reservoir breach alone accounted for 26 deaths and 7 missing persons.
A total of 64,500 people were evacuated and relocated across Nanning City, with Hengzhou City evacuating 54,500 residents and Binyang County evacuating 9,321 people — all safely relocated to higher ground.
Typhoon Maysak and Extreme Rainfall
The disaster was triggered by Typhoon Maysak, the 10th named storm of the 2026 Pacific typhoon season. Maysak made landfall in Hainan Province on July 3 before crossing the Beibu Gulf and striking the Guangxi-Vietnam border on July 4. Its remnant circulation, combined with the southwest monsoon and a northeast cold vortex, produced persistent extreme rainfall across Guangxi from July 4 through July 7.
In Luwei Town, Binyang County, 637mm of rain fell in a single 24-hour period, according to China News Service. Across the region, 65 rivers and 82 monitoring stations recorded water levels above warning thresholds, with the Yujiang River experiencing its 2026 No. 1 flood and the Xijiang River its 2026 No. 2 flood.
Reservoir Failures Raise Questions
On July 6, three reservoirs experienced critical failures. The Liulan Reservoir, a 66-year-old medium-sized earth-fill dam built between 1958 and 1960, developed two major breaches totaling approximately 50 meters in width. The Yunbiao Reservoir in Hengzhou suffered overtopping and breaching, while the Liuwang Reservoir in Binyang experienced dam overtopping.
The Liulan Reservoir failure has drawn particular scrutiny. Despite being labeled a “problem reservoir” by officials due to aging infrastructure, it underwent a 100 million yuan modernization project completed in June 2025 — touted as a transformation from “problem reservoir” to “model project” with smart monitoring capabilities. China News Weekly reported that villagers received only about one hour of warning between the evacuation notice and the breach, raising serious questions about the effectiveness of the renovation and early warning systems.
Dramatic Student Rescue
Amid the devastation, a massive rescue operation saved over 5,000 students who had been trapped by floodwaters in Guigang City. Students from Guigang Senior High School, Guangxi Logistics Vocational College, and other schools were stranded as floodwaters reached depths of up to 7 meters in some areas.
On July 9, the students were transported by bus to Guigang Station, where they boarded trains to return home safely. People’s Daily reported that station staff worked tirelessly to coordinate the effort. “Yesterday the station transferred over 500 students; today that number has risen to over 5,000,” said Yu Yongjun, Station Master of Guigang Station. A teacher surnamed Deng from Guangxi Logistics Vocational College told reporters, “The students were just rescued, their phones are out of battery, they want to get to the high-speed rail station to quickly report safety to their families.”
The Nan-Zhu High-Speed Railway’s Nan-Yu section, which had been suspended due to the flooding, resumed service on July 9, enabling the mass student transport.
Government Response
The central government escalated its response rapidly. The national flood control and drought relief headquarters raised its emergency response to Level II on July 6. President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang issued disaster relief instructions on July 7. The central government allocated a total of 260 million yuan in emergency funds, comprising 160 million yuan (1.6亿 yuan) for disaster relief and 100 million yuan (1亿 yuan) for infrastructure recovery, according to Chinese state media reports. Three government ministries also dispatched 150,000 units of central relief supplies including tents, folding beds, and summer blankets to the affected areas, as reported by Xinhua News Agency.
Over 4,000 troops from the People’s Liberation Army and Armed Police were deployed to Guangxi and Hubei provinces, as confirmed by the Ministry of National Defense. Rescue operations involved the PLA, Armed Police, fire rescue forces, and local emergency teams working in coordination.
Broader Context and Implications
The Guangxi floods are part of the larger 2026 Southern China Floods, which as of July 9 have caused at least 50 deaths and 10 missing across multiple provinces, including 11 deaths in Hubei from tornadoes. The disaster unfolded during a “super El Niño” year, with China’s Ministry of Emergency Management having warned that extreme weather events were increasing in frequency and intensity due to global warming.
The catastrophic failure of the recently renovated Liulan Reservoir has sparked debate about infrastructure safety standards in China. With another typhoon, Bavi, approaching the region, recovery efforts face additional challenges. The full extent of agricultural and economic losses — with over 375,000 people affected in Guangxi — remains to be assessed as floodwaters gradually recede.
What to Watch
As search and rescue operations continue, authorities are working to identify the deceased and locate the missing. Questions remain about whether the final death toll will rise, what specific engineering failures caused the Liulan Reservoir breach despite recent renovations, and whether an official investigation will be launched. The approaching Typhoon Bavi threatens to complicate ongoing recovery efforts across the already devastated region.