Flooding from days of heavy rain in southern China has killed 39 people

Flooding from days of heavy rain in southern China has killed 39 people in Guangxi, according to the latest Associated Press update on a disaster that began with Tropical Storm Maysak and has continued to spread.

The new toll is a sharp rise from AP's earlier report on July 5, which said Maysak had killed 2 people in Guangxi. That report also said 5 people had died in separate flash floods in northern China during the same weather pattern.

Officials said 9 people remained missing in Guangxi as rescue crews continued to search damaged and flooded areas.

Where the flooding hit hardest

AP said most of the deaths in Guangxi were in Hengzhou, where a reservoir dam partially collapsed during the flooding. The province's emergency response also covered Nanning, Guigang and Fangchenggang, where roads were submerged and vehicles were stranded.

The storm and the runoff it triggered left neighborhoods inundated across southern China, with floodwater damaging infrastructure and adding pressure to already strained flood defenses.

The response

China's Ministry of Emergency Management sent more than 1,000 rescuers, along with vehicles, boats and drones, to support search, evacuation and flood-response work.

Military rescue teams also brought out more than 10,000 trapped students and teachers from schools in Guigang, one of the areas hit by continuous rainfall and flooding.

AP said about 130,000 people had been evacuated in Guangxi, a much larger figure than the roughly 48,000 reported in the earlier July 5 update as the emergency was still unfolding.

A worsening chronology

The disaster moved in stages. AP first reported deaths in Guangxi and separate fatal flooding in the north. By July 9, the southern toll had climbed to 39, with the hardest-hit area centered on Hengzhou after the reservoir damage there.

That same update said waters were beginning to recede, but more rain was still expected. The risk of additional inundation remained, especially in areas where reservoirs and flood defenses had already been damaged.

Secondary hazards

Local reporting added another layer of danger in the flooded areas. The Hengzhou emergency management bureau confirmed snake-escape and snakebite incidents tied to the flooding.

Separate reporting said more than 100 animals escaped from Guigang Zoo after continuous rain damaged enclosures, underscoring how widely the storm's impacts spread beyond the immediate flood zones.

What comes next

The main open questions are whether Guangxi authorities revise the death toll again, whether the missing-person count changes and whether further rainfall causes new flooding.

Officials are also still assessing the full damage to homes, reservoirs, roads and other infrastructure as recovery and rescue operations continue across the province.