Severe flooding ⁠in China’s northern Hebei province and northeastern Liaoning Province submerged roads and swept away cars, while people swam and paddle-boarded along neighbourhood streets, videos on social media showed.

Water levels rose to more ‌than two metres on roads in Kuancheng, a county in Hebei, according to a resident’s account that was broadcast by local official media. Kuancheng ‌is home to around 240,000 people and is located on the banks ‌of the Luan River.

Several cars were filmed crashing into each other ⁠in Kuancheng as they bobbed up and down a waterlogged road before being carried away by the strength of the current.

The floods came after Typhoon Bavi, the most powerful storm to strike mainland ​China this year, brought heavy rain ‌to the eastern coast and violent winds to the area’s densely populated cities, testing the country’s ability to cope with extreme weather.

Authorities warned the storm would dump torrential rain across the Provinces of Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui, ‌exacerbating flood risks in areas that had already been soaked by earlier ​downpours.

Around 1,800 villagers in Kuancheng were stranded, state broadcaster CCTV reported, while authorities said that relocating and resettling residents was their top ⁠priority. In Liaoning, authorities raised the red alert for flash floods, warning of very high risks.

“During a red alert for heavy rain, all work stoppages, business closures, and ‌gatherings must be fully implemented,” Hebei authorities said in a statement on WeChat. Videos on RedNote, known in China as Xiaohongshu, showed a person swimming backstroke down a road in Shenyang, Liaoning, which had rows of parked cars with only the tops of the vehicles visible above the water. Another clip on RedNote showed someone standing on a paddleboard to navigate the flooded streets. Many trains in Shenyang have ‌been suspended, China Railway said on Monday (July 13), with more than 30 railway sections affected. Schools have ​also been closed across many areas including the northeastern Province of Jilin.

Some areas in northeastern China will experience thunderstorms or hailstorms of Force ⁠8 or above, CCTV reported, citing the country’s Central Meteorological Observatory. “In some areas of ⁠central and northern Jiangsu, thunderstorm winds of level 10 or above will occur, with maximum winds reaching force 11 or above, and tornadoes may ‌occur locally,” it said. Force 11 winds can reach speeds of up to 117 kph (73 mph). Forty-six rivers nationwide are experiencing flooding above warning levels, CCTV reported, ​citing China’s Ministry of Water Resources.

Severe flooding ⁠in China’s northern Hebei province and northeastern Liaoning Province submerged roads and swept away cars, while people swam and paddle-boarded along neighbourhood streets, videos on social media showed.

Water levels rose to more ‌than two metres on roads in Kuancheng, a county in Hebei, according to a resident’s account that was broadcast by local official media. Kuancheng ‌is home to around 240,000 people and is located on the banks ‌of the Luan River.

Several cars were filmed crashing into each other ⁠in Kuancheng as they bobbed up and down a waterlogged road before being carried away by the strength of the current.

The floods came after Typhoon Bavi, the most powerful storm to strike mainland ​China this year, brought heavy rain ‌to the eastern coast and violent winds to the area’s densely populated cities, testing the country’s ability to cope with extreme weather.

Authorities warned the storm would dump torrential rain across the Provinces of Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui, ‌exacerbating flood risks in areas that had already been soaked by earlier ​downpours.

Around 1,800 villagers in Kuancheng were stranded, state broadcaster CCTV reported, while authorities said that relocating and resettling residents was their top ⁠priority. In Liaoning, authorities raised the red alert for flash floods, warning of very high risks.

“During a red alert for heavy rain, all work stoppages, business closures, and ‌gatherings must be fully implemented,” Hebei authorities said in a statement on WeChat. Videos on RedNote, known in China as Xiaohongshu, showed a person swimming backstroke down a road in Shenyang, Liaoning, which had rows of parked cars with only the tops of the vehicles visible above the water. Another clip on RedNote showed someone standing on a paddleboard to navigate the flooded streets. Many trains in Shenyang have ‌been suspended, China Railway said on Monday (July 13), with more than 30 railway sections affected. Schools have ​also been closed across many areas including the northeastern Province of Jilin.

Some areas in northeastern China will experience thunderstorms or hailstorms of Force ⁠8 or above, CCTV reported, citing the country’s Central Meteorological Observatory. “In some areas of ⁠central and northern Jiangsu, thunderstorm winds of level 10 or above will occur, with maximum winds reaching force 11 or above, and tornadoes may ‌occur locally,” it said. Force 11 winds can reach speeds of up to 117 kph (73 mph). Forty-six rivers nationwide are experiencing flooding above warning levels, CCTV reported, ​citing China’s Ministry of Water Resources.

China is still reeling from Typhoon Maysak with 39 killed in flooding ‌caused by the storm in Guangxi; nine others still missing

China and Taiwan were bracing for possibly ‌the most destructive tropical storm in years as Typhoon Bavi churned southeast of Taiwan on Thursday (July 9, 2026), with winds ​near 200 kph (124 mph), and as parts of China were still reeling from Typhoon Maysak.

Authorities in Taiwan ⁠urged residents to stock up on supplies and brace for what could be the most powerful typhoon to hit the island since 2024.

Bavi, currently about 1,000 km (621 miles) at its widest point or roughly the width of France, is forecast to skirt northern Taiwan before making landfall in ‌China’s eastern Fujian province on Saturday evening (July 11, 2026), according to China’s National Meteorological Centre.

China is still reeling from Typhoon Maysak, which wreaked havoc across the southwestern region of Guangxi. At least 39 people died due to the flooding ‌caused by the storm in Guangxi, local officials told a news conference on Thursday. Nine people are still missing across ‌the ⁠region, they added.

Bavi is set to be the largest storm by size to hit Taiwan since 1987, ⁠Jason Chang, Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration forecaster, told Reuters, adding that storms of this size have been “fairly rare in recent years”.

China, the world’s second-largest economy, along with neighbouring Japan and Taiwan, are increasingly exposed to destructive weather events that scientists link to climate change. This year is of particular concern because the expected emergence ​of El Nino could drive up temperatures and ‌help fuel more frequent and intense typhoons.

If Bavi maintains its forecast intensity, it would be the most powerful typhoon, as hurricanes are known in the Asia-Pacific region, since Super Typhoon Kong-rey in 2024, according to AccuWeather, a commercial weather forecasting service.

“Some loss of wind intensity is anticipated starting Thursday, but Bavi will remain a dangerous storm as it impacts Taiwan and eastern China ‌later Friday into Monday,” according to Jason Nicholls, AccuWeather international forecasting expert.

Bracing for impact

Japan Airlines said it had cancelled 48 domestic flights ⁠scheduled for Friday (July 10, 2026) because of the typhoon, affecting an estimated 7,610 passengers.

ANA said it would cancel 34 flights mainly serving Okinawa’s Ishigaki and ⁠Miyako airports, affecting around 1,800 passengers on Friday, with 33 further domestic flights set to be cancelled on Saturday (July 11) impacting 5,900 people.

“We should pay much attention to Bavi as it has spent a long time intensifying over the ‌open Pacific, extracting energy from warm ocean and accumulating large amounts of moisture,” said Xiangbo Feng, research scientist in tropical cyclones at Imperial College London.

“When it would make landfall or get close to coastal regions, the damage could be catastrophic. A ​small change in Bavi’s track could have a significant influence,” Mr. Feng added.