China normally manages to keep its secrets and internal matters within its boundaries. But thanks to social media, that’s not possible all the time.
Zhengzhou, a city in Henan province in central China which is known as the world’s biggest production base for iPhones, experienced a deluge which brought more than 8 months’ worth of the city’s average rainfall and resulted in devastating floods.
In what is being said to be Henan province’s heaviest rainfall in 1,000 years, officials stated that Zhengzhou alone recorded 617.1 mm rainfall from Saturday to Tuesday.
Horrifying pictures of overturned cars on inundated streets and videos of people being trapped in flooded subways have gone viral on social media.
Terrible #floods also in #Henan, China. ?#ClimateCrisis. No place is “safe” any more.pic.twitter.com/y1htmYmCVI
— Parents For Future #UprootTheSystem 24 Sept 2021 (@parents4future) July 20, 2021
According to CCTV, as many as 1.24 million people were affected while 1,60,000 people were relocated. Zhengzhou suspended flights as rescue workers worked day and night to prevent dam breaches, restore power, assess collapsed roads and pump out submerged gas stations.
At least 25 people, including 12 subway passengers, have been reported to be killed due to the rain and floods so far.
The famous Shaolin Temple, a sanctuary for Buddhist monks, has reportedly been submerged.
