The 2010 China floods began in early May 2010. Three hundred and ninety-two people died, and a further 232 people were reported missing as of June 30, 2010, including 57 people in a landslide in Guizhou. Fifty-three of the deaths occurred from the flooding and landslides between May 31 and June 3, and 266 deaths occurred between June 13 and June 29. Four hundred and twenty four people were killed by the end of June, including 42 from the Guizhou landslide; 277 more were killed and 147 were missing in the first two weeks of July, bringing the death toll as of August 5 to 1,072. A landslide in early August in Gansu killed at least 1,471 people and left 294 missing. In total, the flooding and landslides killed at least 3,185 people in China by August 31. More than people in 28 provinces, municipalities, and regions, especially the southern and central provinces and regions of Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing Municipality, Gansu, Sichuan, and Guizhou, and the northeastern province of Jilin were affected, while at least people were evacuated because of the risk of flooding and landslides in the latter half of June. By early August, over people were evacuated, and that number rose to 15.2 million by August 31.
Millions lacked drinking water. A total of 1.36 million houses were destroyed and more than of crops were inundated, while of farmland had been completely destroyed by the end of June. Dozens of rivers remained flooded, including the Pearl River in Guangdong province, which had been affected by severe drought during the spring as its outflow was severely reduced. The total damages from the floods were roughly 83.8 billion yuan as of June 27, 2010, and over yuan ( USD) by August 8. By late August, of farmland were affected by the flooding, while were completely destroyed.
In late May 2010, heavy rainfall caused a train derailment in Jiangxi, killing at least 19 people, and the closure of the Shanghai-Kunming railway line for 24 hours due to a landslide.
Many major rivers in China, including the Yangtze, Yellow, and Songhua Rivers were flooded to dangerous levels. The Chinese Government allocated over yuan for rescue and relief work. The Jialing River, Han River, and Huai River surged higher than warning levels.
Effects
The grim situation of the 2010 South China floods exceeded the levels of the 1998 Yangtze River floods. The flooding attracted attention from the state leaders of the Chinese Government and the public, who brought aid to the victims of the flooding. The death toll from the floods continued to rise, as floodwaters began to recede in some areas by the end of June. Throughout the East Asian Monsoon season, the worst of the flooding shifted from Southwestern China to Central China by June and July and moved to Northern and Northeastern China by late July and August, leaving the southern provinces in a heat wave while the Northeastern and Northwestern provinces were continuously lashed by flooding rains. Unusual climate patterns were linked to the persistent flooding, including an El Niño-like Modoki, jet stream patterns (also possibly linked to low solar activity), deforestation worsening the landslides, and global warming.
Guizhou Province
After experiencing severe drought, heavy rains triggered a landslide in Guizhou Province around 2:30 pm on June 28 that trapped 99 people in the village of Dazhai, Gangwu Township, Anshun. Ganwu received of rain on June 27, a record for the township, and the resulting landslide lasted two minutes and unleashed up to of mud and rock, burying at least 37 buildings and homes in Dazhai. Officials stated there was little hope for the survival of the buried victims, and the torrential rains were likely to continue. The rains hampered rescue efforts in the search for survivors from the 38 families buried by the landslide. Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu urged the use of all resources to rescue any survivors. The first body, a child, was found by rescue workers in the late afternoon of June 29.
More than 1,100 rescue workers searched to find the remaining victims, including up to 30 children and infants, and eight of the original missing turned up alive. By July 1, 10 bodies had been found at the site of the landslide, and 89 still missing and feared dead. At least 1,000 people were evacuated from the village after the landslide. A total of 42 bodies were found by June 29, and the remaining 57 missing were presumed dead.