At least 25 people have died in floods in central China's Henan Province, including 12 who drowned in a subway line in the provincial capital, which has experienced the heaviest rainfall in a thousand years, meteorologists say.
Authorities evacuated about 100,000 people in the capital, Zhengzhou, where railway and road services were disrupted, while waters in dams and reservoirs reached warning levels and thousands of soldiers began a rescue operation in the province.
A video clip - spread on social media on Tuesday - showed passengers of a metro train standing in the dark, murky flood waters reaching their chest level, while an underground station turned into a large pond, and city authorities said that 500 people were rescued from the station.
People walk on a flooded road after record rain in Zhengzhou, central China (European)
One of the survivors wrote - on social media - "The water reached my chest... I was afraid, but the most terrifying thing was not the water, but the lack of air inside the car."
A Zhengzhou resident said that because of the rain, the authorities had stopped bus services;
Where cars run on electricity "that's why so many people took the subway and the tragedy happened."
Local media quoted meteorologists as saying that the amount of rain that fell in Zhengzhou over the past three days occurs "once every thousand years."
Soldiers take part in rescuing some people from floods in Chongqing, south China (European)
Scientists told Reuters it was almost certain that China's rains were linked to climate change, such as the recent heavy rains in the United States and Canada and floods in western Europe.
Many train services through Henan Province, a major logistics hub in central China, have been suspended.
Authorities also closed many highways and flights were delayed or canceled.
The Chinese military has sent more than 5,700 soldiers to help with search and rescue efforts.
Today, Wednesday, a group of companies, insurance companies and a state bank said that they had made donations and emergency aid to local governments in Henan worth 1.935 billion yuan ($299 million).