Torrential rainfalls swept across central Chinese provinces of Henan and Hubei on Monday, forcing local authorities to urgently transfer residents and rescue the affected people and infrastructure. The round of strong summer rainfalls has caused five deaths and one person missing in Xixia County in Henan's Nanyang City, the local emergency response headquarters said Tuesday. Heavy downpours with total precipitation of 225.3 millimeters in two townships triggered a sudden surge in the water level in the downstream of a local river on Monday, damaging infrastructure and leaving some residents trapped. Following the flooding, local authorities immediately organized responders to carry out rescue operations. Further search and rescue efforts are still underway. Torrential rains also hit many areas in Hubei on Monday, especially in the mountainous Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, where seven counties experienced heavy rain, according to the provincial meteorological observatory on Tuesday. The weather department said that the rain weakened in western Hubei during the daytime on Tuesday, while some areas in the southwestern part experienced heavy rain or even torrential rain, accompanied by short-duration strong precipitation. Xianfeng County was the place most severely affected by this round of heavy rainfall in Enshi, with the total precipitation exceeding 350 millimeters in 12 hours. The extremely heavy rainstorm caused waterlogging in the center of the county and flooded some buildings. As of 13:00 on Tuesday, more than 18,000 residents were relocated to safe places due to the rainfall. Local authorities also closed schools for one day. Local People's Armed Forces Department has also responded quickly by dispatching more than 240 servicemen to help transfer affected people and materials and drain the accumulated water in various locations across Xianfeng County. As of Tuesday evening, the armed forces have successfully evacuated over 800 people, rescued 7.5 tons of materials, cleared over 1,000 cubic meters of mud, and unblocked over 100 drainage channels. Meanwhile, mud-clearing work is underway as the floodwaters recede. A total of 16,000 Party members and officials have joined the efforts. Over 200 sets of equipment such as drainage vehicles and pumps have been immediately allocated to support the relief operations. In response to the flooding in central China, the National Committee for Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Relief, the Ministry of Emergency Management, and the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration allocated 12,000 relief items to Henan and Hubei, including folding beds and blankets, which are designed to help local authorities manage the emergency relocation of affected residents and disaster relief work. Shotlist: Xixia County, Nanyang City, Henan Province, central China - July 1, 2025: 1. Aerial shot of surging river; 2. Various of floods, rescuers working; Xianfeng County, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei Province, central China - July 1, 2025 3. Various of firefighters evacuating residents; 4. Various of people's armed forces evacuating residents; 5. Various of responders removing debris; 6. Various of responders draining accumulated water; 7. Various of machinery cleaning mud on road; 8. Various of people cleaning mud, waste on road; 9. Responders cleaning mud in shop. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]