Floods in China’s Zhengzhou Kill Dozens, Displace Thousands

HONG KONG—Record rainfall in central China caused severe floods that have claimed more than two dozen lives, turned city streets into gushing rivers and forced authorities to relocate hundreds of thousands of people.

Henan province has been pelted by heavy rains since Saturday, with its capital of Zhengzhou among the worst-hit areas. Local news reports and social-media posts showed inundated neighborhoods, submerged cars, residents stranded in schools and workplaces, and flooded subways with commuters standing in water up to chest-deep.

At least 25 people have died in Zhengzhou since the heavy rains started late last week, while seven others remained missing, Henan officials said at a Wednesday briefing. More than 1.2 million people across the province have been affected by the floods, officials said.

“Just got back alive, less than three kilometers but it took four and a half hours,” a Zhengzhou resident posted on her verified account on the Twitter -like Weibo social-media service Tuesday evening, along with a video showing more than a dozen people supporting each other as they struggled to wade through knee-high water that was gushing through a road junction.

“Thanks to the strangers who were walking with me, dragging me as I struggled to stay standing and making sure I didn’t get washed away,” she said.

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