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recently, a blogger posted on a social platform that he and his colleagues were passing through the alxa desert in inner mongolia on the evening of the 19th when a large amount of water suddenly accumulated on the road surface. the depth was almost more than half of the wheels, and the deepest part even went over the hood. due to the water on the road and the low visibility, they drove the car to a small earth slope and waited for the water level to drop before leaving safely. on the 21st, mr. jiang (pseudonym), an eyewitness of the incident, told the upstream news (reporting email: [email protected]) reporter that it was the first time he encountered such a situation as desert flooding, and at one point he "felt that something was going to happen." several hotels in alxa left banner confirmed that it was indeed raining heavily in the evening of the 19th, and water accumulated in many parts of the city, but it has now returned to normal.

the weather was good when we set out (above), but the road was flooded when we returned (below). photo provided by the interviewee

mr. jiang said that on the 19th, he and his colleagues went on a business trip from beijing to alxa, and their work location was in the desert. "we hired a car and a driver and chose a small road to start. it was not a national highway, and the roadbed height was basically the same as the desert on both sides. in the evening, we found that it was raining in the desert. at first, i didn't think anything was wrong. on the way back to the hotel, i slept for a while in the passenger seat. when i woke up, i was shocked: the road in front of the car was full of water. i thought i drove into a river."

the video shows that a large amount of water accumulated on the road, and the flow rate was relatively fast. "at first we thought it was just a light rain, but later the water on the road accumulated more and more, higher than half a tire. we accidentally drove into a small pothole, the water flooded over the hood, and the air-conditioning vents began to spray water out. it was around 11 o'clock in the evening. there were no street lights on this road, and we couldn't see anything. it was a bit scary. we felt that we couldn't drive forward, so we found a small dirt slope with higher terrain and parked the car on it. we rested on the small dirt slope for about an hour, and saw a car coming from the opposite lane, so we discussed with the driver and decided to start again. it was around 0:30 in the morning of the next day, and we drove for another hour and finally drove the car back to the hotel. after we got out of the car, we found that the front of the car was full of various branches and leaves, and a lot of paint on the bumper was scraped off."

after returning to the hotel, mr. jiang found that the front bumper of the car he was sitting in was full of branches and debris.

mr. jiang said he was a little scared at the time. "it was my first time in alxa. i didn't expect there would be floods in the desert. when the water covered the hood, i felt something was going to happen and i didn't dare to take a video." he said he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts at the time, and the local temperature was only about 10 degrees at night. "it was very cold. if the car stalled and couldn't be driven or was washed away, there might be a risk of hypothermia."

the location mr. jiang sent to the reporter showed that they were about 15 kilometers away from the urban area of ​​alxa left banner at the time of the incident. where did so much water come from in the desert? they judged that it might be a flash flood in the helan mountains. mr. jiang told the reporter that the driver was a local. he immediately consulted his relatives and friends by phone and learned that many local vehicles had encountered similar situations, and that the urban area was also flooded in many places due to heavy rain. "he said that the urban area is very close to the helan mountains, and the water is likely to have rushed down from the mountains."

the reporter searched and found that the alxa league meteorological observatory issued a yellow rainstorm warning signal at 19:25 on the evening of the 19th, saying that heavy rain occurred in bayanhot, alxa left banner, and along the helan mountains, with precipitation ranging from 22.0 to 37.8 mm, and reminded relevant units and personnel to make preparations for prevention. on the same day, relevant departments also issued a meteorological risk warning for flash flood disasters, reminding that there is a certain risk of flash flood disasters in the areas along the helan mountains.

on the 19th, the local area issued a flash flood warning. official website of the alxa league water affairs bureau and meteorological bureau

the reporter found on social media that many tourists in alxa left banner had similar experiences that day. one netizen said that a road he encountered in the desert looked like a big river because there was a lot of water on the road. "in the desert with heavy rain, the rain and sand were endless, and i really felt like i couldn't go back."

on the 21st, the reporter contacted several hotels in alxa left banner. hotel staff confirmed that it had indeed been raining on the 19th, causing waterlogging in many parts of the city and on the roads, but the weather has cleared up in the past two days and the water has receded, so people can come and play normally.

upstream news reporter jin xin