Typhoon Narra: record flood waters submerge homes and force mass evacuations in China

Widespread flooding triggered by Typhoon Narra has submerged homes and forced mass evacuations in southern China, as another storm system tracked towards Japan and Taiwan.

Authorities in Chongzuo, in China’s Guangxi region – famous for its giant waterfalls and karst limestone mountains – on Tuesday evacuated more than 15,000 people after water ⁠levels surpassed a record high set in 2008.

Rising flood waters have prompted China to relocate a total of 54,000 people in Guangxi, state television said.

Narra made landfall as a tropical storm on Tuesday evening ⁠in China’s southern island province of Hainan after lingering over the Beibu Gulf for ‌several days, dumping heavy rain on ‌Guangxi, Hainan and Guangdong.

Heavy rain is expected to persist across parts of Vietnam and southern ‌China through Wednesday, with areas of Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan and Fujian forecast to receive torrential rain, state media said.

In Chongzuo, river water overflowed into the city, with water levels reaching the rooftops of some buildings and power lines.

A notice from Chongzuo authorities on Monday ordered all businesses and tourist operations to cease and urged evacuated residents not to return to high-risk areas.

Meanwhile, medium-strength Typhoon Saudel moved towards southern Japan and northern Taiwan where ‌it is expected to bring sporadic heavy rain, as Taiwan reported one dead and four missing from a separate weather system over its south and east.

Japan’s weather agency warned of destructive winds and high seas as Typhoon Saudel approached the south-western islands of Okinawa prefecture.

Saudel is expected to pass to the north of Taiwan starting late Thursday and into Friday, though its intensity is forecast to gradually weaken, the island’s Central Weather Administration said.

However, there is uncertainty about ⁠the timing and extent of the typhoon’s rainfall impact, it added.

In southern and eastern Taiwan, ​the government reported one person dead and ​four missing from a tropical depression ​that brought flooding in the cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, home to more than 4 million people.

During ​the three days from ‌Sunday to Tuesday, almost ​a metre (3.9 feet) of ​rain fell in Kaohsiung, which the government said exceeded rainfall during 2009’s devastating Typhoon Morakot that killed about 700 people and caused damage of up to $3bn.

Saudel is forecast to hit the coast in the south-eastern Chinese province of Fujian from late Thursday to early Friday.