A community in China had a narrow escape when a landslide, triggered by Typhoon Wutip, occurred on the slopes above the village. Fortunately, the population had been evacuated when a local woman noted signs that a failure might be imminent.
At about 4 am on 15 June 2025, rainfall associated with the remnants of Typhoon Wutip triggered a landslide at Zhonghe village in western Guangdong province in China. At present I am unable to give a precise location for this event, which is listed in the Chinese media as having occurred at Lian’er Natural Village, Zhonghe village, located in Guizi Town, Xinyi City, Maoming. Guizi town is located at [22.6397, 111.1113], so it is in this general area.
China Daily has a photographic feature on this landslide, which includes this image:-
There is also a view from the crown of the failure looking along the landslide track:-
This failure affected 25 households and 57 people, but all were evacuated in the hours prior to the event (see below). The landslide itself appears to have been a large, shallow failure that has channelised before striking the village. Note also at least two other shallow failures in the same area – these landslides are characteristic of landslides triggered by very high rainfall intensities that drive saturation and a loss of suction forces.
It is fortunate that the material involved in the failure was comparatively fine-grained, which has meant that the damage to the village appears to be modest. XKB has this image of the aftermath of the landslide:-
There is an article in nfnews (in Mandarin) that describes the sequence of events that led to the evacuation of the community. The key person is Liu Mingfang, a member of the Zhonghe Village Committee. This is a description of the events (using Google Translate):-
In the rain, her vision was blurred, and Liu Mingfang used a flashlight to patrol along the muddy village road. At 0:42 on the 15th, she suddenly discovered: “Why is this water yellow and muddy, and it still carries sediment?”
Red flags! She immediately dialed the phone number of Cao Musheng, the village party secretary: “Secretary, there is an abnormality in the water, something may happen!” ”
In less than 5 minutes, Liu Chunhua and Cao Musheng, deputy mayors of the village, arrived at the scene. After research and judgment, Liu Chunhua decisively reported to the town’s three prevention offices and received instructions: transfer immediately!
At 0:58, a total of 10 village cadres and village cadres rushed from all directions to the entrance of Lian’er Natural Village. Immediately afterwards, the sound of gongs, knocks on the door, and shouts instantly tore apart the rainy night.
The entire community was relocated before the slope failed.