Typhoon Maysak has killed at least four people in China and forced roughly 62,000 residents to evacuate from the southern city of Nanning, according to Chinese officials cited by the BBC. A reservoir wall in Nanning broke after heavy rains swelled nearby rivers beyond their capacity. Water poured into surrounding neighborhoods, creating one of the most dangerous moments in an ongoing flood emergency. China's central government has responded by declaring the highest level of flood alert.

The numbers reported vary depending on the news source and when they reported. The Guardian, reporting on July 6, said two people died in Nanning and about 48,000 evacuated. Xinhua, a Chinese state news agency cited by Asharq Al-Awsat and WFMZ, reported about 55,000 people affected and 48,000 evacuated. Deutsche Welle cited officials saying almost 480,000 people were "affected" — a different measure than evacuation. "Affected" means families whose homes, property, or daily lives were disrupted by the storm, across a much wider area than just those ordered to leave.

This confusion reflects the difference between two things: how wide the storm's impact spread, and how many people authorities actually had to move to safety. The nationwide death toll of at least four reported by the BBC exceeds the two deaths reported in Nanning by the Guardian, suggesting people also died in other provinces where Maysak's rain reached.

Maysak made landfall in Hainan Province on July 3, according to CGTN. It was the year's first typhoon to hit China and the tenth named typhoon of the 2026 Pacific season. From Hainan, the storm's weakening remnants moved inland, dumping heavy rain across Guangxi province. This rainfall fed rivers that eventually overwhelmed the Nanning reservoir.

China's central government has sent additional teams to manage flooding not only in Guangxi but also in Liaoning province in the northeast, according to China's State Council. This suggests that rain from Maysak's remnants, or a separate weather system that followed, created flood risks hundreds of kilometers away from where the typhoon first landed.

President Xi Jinping called for "all-out efforts" to rescue those affected, according to the BBC. Chinese authorities have warned that heavy rains will continue for several more days. This means the death counts and evacuation numbers reported now will likely change as rescue work proceeds.

A single typhoon in China often creates problems across huge distances. The storm's leftover moisture can meet other weather patterns and cause flooding far from where it first hit, which makes coordinating a national rescue effort more difficult. When authorities declare the highest flood alert level, it signals that the emergency goes beyond what normal seasonal flood management can handle. The order triggers automatic mobilization of rescue teams, including the military and armed police.

Right now, nothing is final. With more rain expected, all the numbers — deaths, evacuations, people affected — should be treated as temporary. Chinese authorities typically issue a complete report only after the emergency phase ends, once they can combine counts from all provinces involved.