In the hilly metropolis of southwestern Chongqing, apartment blocks were submerged in muddy waters and some vehicles were swept away in flood waters gushing down streets, according to state broadcaster CCTV's footage and images from Thursday.

An image showed flood waters almost reaching the top of power cable lines. Water and power supply were also disrupted in some areas, CCTV said.

Nearly 300 people were evacuated from towns and villages in Pengshui county, where cumulative daily rainfall had reached 304mm, and floods were made worse by precipitation from the mountains converging into the Ditang River which had swollen by 19m, according to CCTV.

The water in several other rivers in Chongqing had also exceeded alert levels due to the extreme rainfall, Xinhua said.

BEIJING – Nearly 70,000 people in southern China have been evacuated after heavy flooding caused by Typhoon Wutip, Chinese state media outlets reported on June 18.

Vast areas of Zhaoqing city in Guangdong province were submerged, with flood waters inundating shopfronts and covering roads, footage from state broadcaster China Central Television showed.

Rescuers pushed stranded cars out of the water and used dinghies to transport residents to safety.

Other images showed rescuers wading through water while carrying stranded people on their backs.

The flooding affected 183,000 residents in Zhaoqing’s Huaiji county, with the city mobilising more than 10,000 rescue personnel, state media outlet Xinhua reported.

The flooding affected much of Guangdong province and the neighbouring Guangxi region.

Footage from CCTV filmed on June 17 showed rescuers in Guangxi dragging a rubber boat crammed with people through knee-deep water as heavy rain continued to fall.

in about 1.5 month, it's taiwan's turn

annual event

In short: Taipei’s urban drainage system is more advanced in terms of precision and integration, as it is specifically designed to handle frequent typhoons and heavy rainfall with smart technologies like underground reservoirs, real-time monitoring, and GIS-based planning.

On the other hand, China’s first-tier cities are catching up through large-scale retrofitting and the Sponge City Initiative, but the effectiveness varies significantly across cities and districts due to their size, complexity, and uneven implementation.

Verdict: Taipei leads in efficiency and targeted solutions, while China’s first-tier cities excel in scale but face challenges in consistency and modernization.

3. Effectiveness in Extreme Weather
• Taipei: Highly effective in handling typhoons and heavy rainfall, with minimal disruptions and quick recovery.
• China’s First-Tier Cities: Mixed performance; cities like Shanghai handle floods well, but others, like Beijing, often face urban flooding.
• Greater KL: Effective for specific flood scenarios (e.g., SMART Tunnel during storms), but flash floods in urban areas remain frequent due to rapid development and limited drainage upgrades.

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4. Challenges
• Taipei: Space constraints in dense urban areas; aging infrastructure in need of modernization.
• China’s First-Tier Cities: Urban sprawl and inconsistent implementation of policies like the Sponge City Initiative.
• Greater KL: Urban sprawl, insufficient enforcement of flood management regulations, and reliance on large-scale but localized solutions.

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In Summary
1. Most Advanced: Taipei—proactive, technologically integrated, and highly resilient to extreme weather.
2. Next: China’s First-Tier Cities—rapidly evolving but uneven in implementation due to scale and complexity.
3. Greater KL: Effective in pockets (e.g., SMART Tunnel) but lacks widespread modernization and smart integration.

Greater KL has potential but would benefit from adopting Taipei’s precision-focused and smart-system-driven approach.