Prior to the landslide, workers from the village committee had noticed a significant amount of yellow muddy water overflowing on the hill behind houses, indicating something was wrong.

They immediately organized an emergency evacuation, banging drums and knocking on doors to ask residents to leave their houses.

"The landslide happened in a very short time, and houses collapsed very suddenly," He said.

After the landslide, Dayuan subdistrict authorities immediately activated their emergency response mechanism, evacuating nearby residents.

As of Wednesday evening, 3,371 people had been evacuated, according to emergency management authorities.

Heavy rainfall experienced between Saturday and Wednesday also affected the rail network in the area. The China Railway Guangzhou Group promptly initiated emergency plans that included suspending some trains when required and initiating speed restrictions to maintain transportation safety. The railway group also operated 20 additional high-speed special trains and assisted 32,715 passengers stranded by the heavy rainfall. By Thursday, affected railway lines in Guangdong had been fully restored.

In Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, the local government raised a flood control alert on Thursday and ordered a citywide suspension of production, business operations and school programs as heavy rain continued to batter the region.

At 1:20 pm on Thursday, the Zhengzhou Meteorological Service issued a red rainstorm warning, the highest in the system, reporting that some districts had already received more than 100 millimeters of rain.

The city's flood control authority upgraded its response from Level IV to Level III at 1 pm and imposed mandatory suspensions of urban activities, including outdoor events.

By 2:15 pm, local traffic police had set up roadblocks and traffic controls along the hardest-hit intersections, deploying additional officers to manage hazards and guide motorists.