China floods: large parts of country remain on alert as Gansu province death toll rises

China's death toll from recent flash floods in Gansu province has risen to 25, following a devastating incident on July 26th that injured 23 others, according to state news agency Xinhua. The National Commission for Disaster Prevention, Reduction, and Relief has requested an investigation into the event and urged improvements to the province's emergency response system.

Meanwhile, heavy rainfall continues to impact various regions across the country, prompting the Ministry of Water Resources to activate a Level 4 emergency flood control response in northeastern Heilongjiang province. This is the lowest level on the four-tier system. Additionally, 19 rivers in Heilongjiang have experienced flooding, with some water levels surpassing warning thresholds by up to 1.3 meters.

To assist local efforts, central authorities have dispatched 11,000 relief items, including blankets and emergency kits, to Heilongjiang and neighboring Jilin province. Forecasters predict that rain will persist in northern, central, and southwestern China for days, while the northeast region will endure moderate to heavy rain through Monday to Friday.

The recent arrival of three typhoons, with Typhoon Noul being the latest, has prompted authorities to prepare for Typhoon Dolphin, which could potentially hit within two weeks. As extreme weather events become more frequent due to climate change and prevailing El Nino conditions, China is striving to enhance its AI-powered weather forecasting capabilities.

Researchers have developed an ensemble forecasting system that generates multiple simulations to predict storm tracks, rather than traditional single trajectories. This innovative model incorporates atmospheric dynamics data, enabling it to accurately filter out meteorological disturbances and provide more accurate short-term and medium-long-term forecasts compared to conventional AI-based models.