Typhoon Maysak Triggers Severe Flooding in China's Guangxi Region

Typhoon Maysak made its first landfall in China's southern island province of Hainan on July 3, 2026, becoming the first tropical cyclone to reach the Chinese mainland that year. After striking Hainan, the storm made a second landfall in Vietnam on July 5, affecting the border city of Mong Cai where it brought down trees and ripped metal roofs from buildings. Though Maysak weakened into a tropical storm after landfall, it continued to bring heavy rain and severe flooding to China's southern Guangxi region.

At least two people were killed in Nanning due to flooding caused by Typhoon Maysak. Approximately 55,000 people were affected by floods in Nanning, according to deputy mayor Wei Jiang. Evacuation efforts removed approximately 48,000 people from Nanning city, while across the broader Guangxi province, some 480,000 people were evacuated.

Waters overflowed or broke through barriers at three reservoirs in Nanning, including a breach at a medium-sized reservoir in Hengzhou and failures at the Liulan, Yunbiao, and Liuwang reservoirs. The water level at Guigang Hydrological Station had risen to 42 metres by 12:30pm local time on July 6, according to China's Ministry of Water Resources.

Nanning and Guangxi authorities raised the flood control emergency response to its highest level — Level I — on July 6. Heavy rainfall is forecast to continue across Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan and neighbouring regions in the coming days, according to Chinese meteorologists. The combined population of Guangxi, Guizhou, and Hunan exceeds 150 million people, more than the population of Russia.

As southern China grappled with Maysak's aftermath, Super Typhoon Bavi was tracking across the Pacific Ocean toward Taiwan, packing winds of up to 290 km/h (approximately 180 mph) as it passed over Guam, Tinian, Saipan, and Rota on July 6. Chinese weather authorities warned Bavi would bring strong winds and heavy rain to eastern China from July 9, threatening a second major storm system within days.

Meteorologists link China's extreme weather and flooding events to climate change, reflecting a broader scientific consensus on the intensification of such events in a warming world.

Center-right outlet The Straits Times reported several additional operational details about the government response not covered by other sources. According to their reporting, China's Ministry of Emergency Management raised its flood response level for the Guangxi region from Level III to Level II on July 6 — a separate, national-level action distinct from the city and provincial Level I declarations. Central authorities dispatched 1,372 personnel and 140 boats to assist local rescuers in Guangxi, and allocated 150,000 pieces of disaster relief supplies, including tents and camp beds, to the region.

The Straits Times also reported that the Ministry of Emergency Management dispatched two Wing Loong drones to the disaster area to assist with emergency communications, a technological response not mentioned by other outlets covering the event.

The same outlet reported that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management allocated 160 million yuan for flood and typhoon relief efforts across six provincial-level regions, including Guangxi, and that China's National Development and Reform Commission allocated 100 million yuan from central budgets for post-disaster reconstruction in Guangxi. These specific funding figures appeared only in center-right reporting.

The Straits Times provided several measurements of the storm's impact not reported elsewhere: Luwei Town in Nanning recorded 637mm of rainfall in 24 hours between July 5 and the morning of July 6, waters rose above warning levels at 66 hydrological monitoring stations on 55 rivers in Guangxi on July 6, and more than 800 residents were evacuated due to severe flooding in Fangchenggang, Guangxi.

Two Straits Times articles described localized flooding scenes verified by video: flood waters in Guigang turned a wide road into a lake, submerging cars, and cascaded into a construction site, while a small car was washed down a street in Fangchenggang.

Center-left outlet The Guardian was alone in reporting casualties from separate heavy rain events in northern China: five people died, including two in a flash flood in Inner Mongolia and three in Fushun, Liaoning province. These northern incidents occurred during the same period as Maysak's southern impact but were not connected to the typhoon itself.

One Straits Times article included an analyst assessment not appearing in other coverage: weather-related risks in China are assessed by analysts to potentially wipe out tens of billions of dollars worth of commercial activity annually, contextualizing the economic dimension of extreme weather events.