China maintains a red warning for mountain torrents and a blue alert for floods as 18 rivers nationwide exceed warning levels. The Ministry of Water Resources reports that heavy rains and upstream inflows will trigger major floods along the Heilongjiang and Hulan rivers through Wednesday.
Weather and water authorities across China face heightened pressure following severe rainfall that pushed 18 rivers above guaranteed water levels, the threshold where flood-control infrastructure like embankments is engineered to function safely. The Ministry of Water Resources convened an emergency consultation meeting on Monday, August 3, 2026, to analyze the nationwide flood control situation and coordinate emergency measures.
Nationwide River Levels and Meteorological Warnings
Ministry of Water Resources and Nationwide River Levels
As of Monday morning, 18 separate river systems across Heilongjiang, Hebei, and Yunnan provinces, along with the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, remained above warning levels. Most notably, the Hulan River—a major tributary of the Songhua River in Heilongjiang—surpassed its guaranteed water level. Ministry forecasts indicate that ongoing precipitation and heavy upstream inflows will drive major floods in both the Hulan and Heilongjiang rivers through Wednesday.
Other critical waterways experiencing elevated risks include the Ougen River, a tributary of the Songhua River in Heilongjiang, the Huangshui River, a tributary of the Yongding River in Shanxi province, the Qianyou River, a tributary of the Hanjiang River in Shaanxi province, the Enyang River, a tributary of the Qujiang River in Sichuan province, and the Longhe River, a tributary of the Yangtze River in Chongqing municipality. China utilizes a four-tier weather warning system in which red represents the highest severity, followed by orange, yellow, and blue.
Regional Mountain Torrent Risks and Hubei Province Alerts
Hubei Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters Office Warnings
Mountain torrents present an immediate danger to localized communities in northwestern Hubei province, southeastern Shaanxi, and central Chongqing. Authorities placed these areas under an orange alert for Tuesday, while select parts of central Chongqing received a red alert indicating a very high risk of such disasters.
Local authorities in Hubei have adjusted their regional warnings in response to changing storm patterns. The Hubei Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters Office initially issued a yellow mountain torrent meteorological warning at 8 am on August 1, 2026, focusing on risks in Fang County within Shiyan City, while Maojian District and Yunxi County were placed under blue alerts. Subsequent bulletins tracked the shifting risk zones. On August 2, 2026, at 8 am, the Hubei Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters Office issued another yellow mountain torrent meteorological warning for the period from August 2 at 8 am to August 3 at 8 am, designating Shiyan City’s Yunxi County as a yellow warning region where the possibility of mountain torrents was relatively large, and placing Maojian District, Zhuxi County, Yunyang County, Zhushan County, and Fang County under blue alerts.
The Hubei provincial office updated the warning schedule again on August 5, 2026, at 20 pm, forecasting risks from August 5 at 20 pm to August 6 at 20 pm. This update placed Shiyan City’s Yunxi County and Zhushan County under yellow warnings (where mountain torrent disaster possibility is relatively large), while placing Shiyan City’s Zhuxi County and Yichang City’s Xingshan County under blue alerts (where mountain torrent disasters are possible).
Evacuations, Transport Disruptions, and Official Guidance
Emergency Protocols in Affected Provinces
Emergency protocols in affected provinces require local governments to deploy targeted measures within their jurisdictions to deploy defensive work against mountain torrent disasters, closely monitor precipitation, check river water levels, report dangerous signs instantly, and advance the transfer of vulnerable groups such as the elderly, young, sick, disabled, and people with mobility difficulties, while timely reporting information on handling disaster risks and hidden dangers.
Passenger Trains in Sichuan Province
Transportation networks have also sustained disruptions. In southwestern Sichuan province, 31 passenger trains remained temporarily suspended on Monday due to heavy rainfall, as heavy precipitation was expected to hit parts of Sichuan and Guizhou provinces and Chongqing municipality through Tuesday, according to Beijing-based Xinhua News reporting.
Residents living near regional waterways have received instructions to stay away from riverbanks and ditches, pay close attention to mountain torrent hazard area warning signs and evacuation routes, listen to commands upon receiving transfer and evacuation notices to quickly move to safe locations, and avoid returning without authorization until the danger has been lifted. Other regions not explicitly under primary alerts were also warned that localized, short-duration heavy precipitation could trigger mountain torrents, requiring real-time monitoring, flood prevention warnings, and evacuation preparations.
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